The Weissvolk
by Monica Moss
Summary: Daniel Fenton is a student warlock living in Germany. He and his sister are being raised by a witch by the name of Frau Schwartzekatze. When Daniel starts to think that what Frau Schwartzekatze is teaching him is wrong, can he escape and save his family?
1. Nature's Elite

**Author's Note**

Okay, so I've been thinking lately that my writing could be better than it is. I'm using this story as an opportunity to experiment and see how I can improve my writing. I've been brainstorming, and reading a chapter from Learning Outside the Lines on how a dyslexic and an ADHD college student tackle anything they have to write, and I think I've got some pretty good ideas, but just because _I_ think an idea is good doesn't mean the idea is good, so I'm hoping I could get people to tell me what they think of how well or how poorly this story is written. Please help me out?

I've been working on this story sense last semester, and I've finally got at least a rough draft version for the whole story written, so it's time for me to test out a new technique and see what my readers think. (Off-topic: Hopefully having all my chapters almost ready to go will mean it's easier for me to update regularly. Easier - ADD will still get in the way sometimes, or will the ADD actually help because of our secret weapon called hyper-focus?) Anyways, now presenting The Weissvolk!

PS. Please forgive my terrible attempts to come up with German names.

Disclaimer: I don't make money writing about someone else's characters.

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Nature's Elite

Daniel lived in a world of learning, a world of 'yes ma'am's and 'no ma'am's, but most importantly, he lived in a world of magic. He and his sister were the two students of a witch, and had been for as long as they could remember. As they were still only learning magic, they were expected to do whatever their mistress told them, and to learn well.

If they didn't, they faced harsh punishments. Everyone knew that they should learn to do, think, and fell the proper things, as they were being taught. Daniel sometimes seemed to have a problem with this, but he tried anyways. He was scared of what they said would happen if he didn't. He'd rather avoid the harsh punishments when he could.

"Yes, ma'am." Daniel went to fetch the old broom from the closet. It wasn't the prettiest thing to look at, but it was more attractive than a stereotypical witch's broom. Instead of twisted and knobby, it was straight and dull. The wood had been painted black, but the paint had started to crack and peel in a few places. Daniel stepped on the hem of his robe and stumbled, but proceeded with his task.

Daniel's mistress held her hand out expectantly, and Daniel handed her the broom. "Tsk. Tsk. Thank you, Daniel," she said, "but do something about the length of that robe, before I decide to have inspection."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Jasmine!" the witch called.

"Yes mistress?" asked Daniel's redheaded sister, who was sitting in the corner of the room.

"You know where I keep you students' brooms. I would like you to go and fetch them."

Hearing his mistress' request, Daniel's blue eyes lit up in anticipation. Learning to ride a broom was his day's equivalent of learning to drive. Well, at least for witches and for warlocks. "You mean I finally get to start my flying lessons?" he asked.

The witch laughed. "You think you get to fly today? You show great potential with your magic, Daniel, but there are a few things you must learn before you can fly!"

Daniel's face fell, and he mumbled, "You're an awfully cruel witch. You let me believe I would fly today so you could see me get crushed."

He should have seen it coming. His mistress didn't have any qualms about tricking him or letting his feelings be hurt, but then again, as she kept reminding him, it was for his own good. Sure enough, she asked:

"Cruel? Do you think it cruel that I am preparing you for the trickery of the world? Do you think it cruel that I am teaching you and your sister a valuable craft? Do you think it was cruel that I took you and your sister in after your parents abandoned you?"

The witch had told him before about the value of magic, she had warned him of the untrustworthiness of the world, and she had told him the story of how his parents didn't accept him after they'd discovered that he had the gift of magic.

"N-no!" he stuttered. "I don't think it cruel at all ma'am. I'm sorry!"

"Don't give me that!" she snapped. "You know you should respect your mistress!" She pointed her wand at him, and changed him into a crow. This was one of her favorite methods of discipline.

Whenever they acted up, or whenever they'd failed to answer a question correctly, she would turn them into a crow. She felt that mastery of the magic art was being lost, and the only remedy was to require students to learn their lessons completely. She would turn them back when she felt that they'd been punished sufficiently of course, seeing as new witches and warlocks were becoming rarer. No one's ability could be wasted.

Pointing to a birdcage, she ordered, "In! Now!" Daniel flew into the cage and allowed his mistress to lock it. It was about then that Jasmine came back with the brooms.

Seeing her brother in the cage, she said, "Daniel, you've got to learn not to insult Mistress Schwartzekatze." Daniel gave a loud squawk in protest. Jasmine shook her head. "You know that won't lessen your punishment!"

Mistress Schwartzekatze, the witch, cleared her throat loudly. "As long as you're in there, Daniel, you might as well pay attention. I will demonstrate and explain broom safety and basic maintenance techniques. For example, mending paint jobs." With a flick of her wand, the cracked and peeling paint job was replaced by a new black paint job.

Daniel paid attention to the broom safety and maintenance lesson. He found it extremely boring, but knowing Mistress Schwartzekatze like he did, he knew he had to pay attention. She usually gave quizzes at the end of each lesson. If he got everything right, he expected to move on to flying. He knew that if he missed something, he would have some extra time as a crow, and the lesson would be repeated until he mastered it.

Sure enough, at the end of the lesson, Daniel was turned back into the young warlock boy he was, and tested thoroughly. Mistress Schwartzekatze always tested them thoroughly on the academic knowledge of the lecture. Then, she would always end the test with the same questions.

These questions were about their power as witches and warlocks. She wanted to hear that her students remembered they were superior to the non magicals, who they could not socialize with because non magicals did not have the rights granted to them that they had. It was Nature that gave them their magic and their rights, and they were to serve Nature by keeping non magicals in their place. Mistress Schwartzekatze had taught them that they were to fear and worship Nature. Daniel and Jasmine were to answer these same questions about power and duty every time their mistress asked.

Mistress Schwartzekatze believed that the questions she asked covered the most important knowledge that witches and warlocks could have. She also believed that they should be repeated to ensure that the knowledge stuck around.

"To whom is magic given?" she asked.

"Nature's chosen Elite," Daniel replied.

"And what are we entitled to as Nature's Elite?"

"Glory, power, and to be feared by the non magical society."

"What are our duties?"

"To learn all the magic we can, respect our masters and mistresses, to keep human society in its place, and to rescue magical children from their non magical parents, because non magical parents will always reject children of the Gift."

"Why shouldn't we allow magical children to stay with their parents, provided the Gift is hidden from non magical eyes?"

"Because familiarity with non magicals will taint the Gift, and corrupt the children who are Nature's Elite." Daniel had a sudden thought, 'Still, sometimes I _do_ wish I could've known my parents. But that's only a fantasy. It's too dangerous for us to know each other.' Daniel threw the thought out of his head. He couldn't help but wonder if he was a bad warlock for having that thought.

"Very good," said Mistress Schwartzekatze, cracking a grin. "Remember, children, I am here to help you motivate yourselves to become what Nature wants from her Elite. When you mature, Nature will cease to be lax in her punishments toward you, and will punish you ruthlessly for any disobedience. You must learn now to do as she wishes."

Daniel and Jasmine both shivered. They kept being told just how ruthless Nature could be to fully grown warlocks.

"Now onto the application section of the lesson," Mistress Schwartzekatze announced. Naturally an application section would follow. It wasn't good enough to know how something is done, if one couldn't do it.

Daniel's sudden and uncalled for sense of wistfulness over his non magical parents vanished as his sister handed him his very first, very own broom. It was mahogany, and its polished wood reflected his face back at him when he examined it. He loved having new things.

He was fortunate to be a student warlock in that respect. Student witches and warlocks were supposed to use only new items to train with. It was common knowledge among Nature's Elite that the bond new magical supplies formed with their first user was essential to have if one wished to maximize their students' ability to learn.

During times like these, Daniel knew exactly why he was glad he was a warlock, and not just some non magical kid growing up with non magical parents. Daniel inwardly sighed as the thought of parents came. He knew as Nature's Elite though, he could not afford to dwell on it.

**Author's Note – Please give me some feedback!**

Okay, so I already said that this story is an experiment for me on improving my writing. I would like to see how this sample of the new writing technique compares to my former writing. I'd love any comments about whether it was better, or worse, and/or an answer to any of these specific questions I have. Please help me out here and give me some feedback?

Was there anything in this chapter that made you confused? If so, what confused you and how?

Were there any details that maybe weren't essential to introducing you to this AU world? If so, which ones?

Call me a nerd, but I decided to develop (non adult) themes in this story. I tried to introduce the themes here, so I'm aware of at least four paragraphs that are not part of the action of this chapter. Do they flow well with the chapter, or are they horribly off-topic?

Is Mistress Schwarztekatze a believable character? If not, what about her makes her unrealistic (other than the fact that she's a witch)?

Thank you for your time and (hopefully) your reviews. I appreciate those who read, and most especially, those who give me input!


	2. Non Magical

**Thank you for reading my story, and thanks for your input!**

**Review Replies:**

**Luiz4200 - You're really perceptive! Thanks for reviewing.  
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**The gangsta of love - Thank you so much for your feedback and your awesome website recommendation. You showed me my character still needs work and gave me examples of what to improve about her. That advice is so valuable to me as an author. Thanks again! :)**

Disclaimer: I'm still just a fan author, not Butch Hartman.

* * *

Non Magical

There was a group of witches and wizards that had broken off and formed their own society about a hundred years previous. 'Weissvolk', as they called themselves, condemned certain practices, which they said were Black Magic. They also condemned many views required by the magical duties. They fled to forest hideaways, where they kept to themselves.

The Black Magic practices they referred to was the magic used to keep non magical society in its place. The views they condemned were notions of superiority, and acceptability taking children from their parents. Rumor had it that Nature had deeply punished the Weissvolk for the complete abandonment of their magical duties, turning them forever into the ugliest, magic less, least intelligent beasts on the face of the Earth. But witches and warlocks were not taught that this was a rumor, but told it was fact. Mistress Schwartzekatze was teaching this lesson to her students at the moment.

"The Weissvolk deserved what they got," she told them "They had been chosen as Nature's Elite, and were privileged to live in Germany, the land of deep magic, as do we. Yet, they turned their backs on what they knew were their rightful duties, and were plotting to teach magical children that those duties were evil. Now, what lesson did you learn from the Weissvolk, Jasmine?"

"That we must use what we are given properly, or be severely punished," she replied. "Luckily, we are given several reminders if common sense fails us. Firstly, the non magicals' fear of us reminds us that we are not like them, but are superior to them. Second, the bond of our materials compels us to continue our duties by the feeling of strength and power that they give us. Lastly, the black silkiness of the robes we must always wear. Black is the color of magic, and silk represents our status of elite."

Mistress Schwartzekatze beamed in approval. "Well done, Jazmine. You may not have great potential in your magic, but you are the most dedicated witch I've ever known. Your dedication gives you more success than those with great potential, but no sense of self-motivation." Her eyes turned toward Daniel, now carrying a glare and a warning.

Daniel was shivering, not because of Mistress Schwartzekatze's glare, but because of the Weissvolk. He couldn't help but sympathize with them. He'd had some of those thoughts too, like just the other day when he'd had a strange longing for his parents. Turned into the ugliest, non magical, least intelligent creatures in the world? Forever? He'd thought being turned into a crow from time to time was bad. Nature was cruel. Wouldn't it have sufficed to just take away their magic?

"And you, Daniel?" Mistress Schwartzekatze asked. "What did you learn from the story of the Weissvolk?"

"Uh . . . not to mess with nature? That we'd better do our duties, regardless of our own opinions, or we'll be punished."

"Daniel! 'Regardless of our own opinions'? Do you share some opinions with the Weissvolk?"

"No ma'am."

"Do you ever entertain those types of opinions?"

Daniel wasn't able to meet Mistress Schwartzekatze in the eye. "N-no," he stammered.

Mistress Schwartzekatze was furious. "I know when you're lying to me Daniel! Nature would find such notions in a grown warlock inexcusable! Something must be done, for your own good!" The witch turned him into a crow, yet again. "I have a feeling that merely being a crow for a few hours will not teach you this lesson. I know that you are not required to begin your duties as you are not of age Daniel, but I see that a trip into the village would do you some good. Tonight, after your chores, you will leave with me from this magically hidden hut, and help keep the villagers in their place."

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Daniel could not recall being in the village before. It was quiet, and no one was outside. "Where is everybody?" he asked.

Mistress Schwartzekatze cackled. "They are scared of us, as they should be. They know we come at night, so they keep to their houses. But we have to come every now and again to remind them of their fear of us, and of their place. We'll start by thoroughly searching the streets for anyone bold enough to still be out and about, and then we'll cause havoc in whichever homes we please."

Daniel understood the instructions, but he didn't like them. His insides were turning like a runaway barrel rolling down a bumpy hill. He'd been taught a few spells to cast in this sort of circumstance, but he'd only ever used them on stones. He'd never been asked to use them on a living being before, especially not living beings that looked the same as witches and warlocks.

"This is Starkstrasse," Mistress Schwartzekatze continued, "the street that runs right through the center of town. You will terrorize the east side of town," she said, gesturing with her arm. "You will curse any villager who is outdoors, and you will go into a few houses and jinx a resident or two in their sleep."

Daniel still didn't like the instructions. Not wanting to be punished, he hoped his true feelings weren't showing. "Yes ma'am," Daniel said, trying to sound calm about it.

He set off on his own. It felt like there was something missing, something Daniel couldn't explain. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he'd never been alone before, not really anyway. If Mistress Schwartzekatze wasn't around, there had always been his sister in the hut.

It didn't take long for him to decide that Mistress Schwartzekatze had been right about at least one thing. The villagers _were_ scared of them. Once Daniel heard a man call, "One o'clock, and slightly cloudy!" But when he ran to where the man was, and pulled out his wand, the man became frightened. "With warlocks about!" he added. The man ran off before Daniel could do anything.

So Daniel continued wandering the streets. He wandered through the outskirts of town, near the woods. He saw a flickering light coming from the woods, like a candle or a lantern. 'Someone's out,' he thought. 'Mistress Schwartzekatze told me to put anyone who was out back into their place.' He walked into the woods, careful as to be quiet so that he'd have the element of surprise. Daniel pulled his wand out of his robe pocket, and went to take a closer look.

There were two men, standing by a stream. A young girl was in the water, struggling for her life. She would've been sucked down into the current if not for her hold on an overgrown tree root.

"HELP!" she screamed. "PLEASE HELP!"

"Help!" the men mocked. "Please help!" They laughed so hard that they fell over onto the ground, and fell about laughing. Daniel could tell that these men were perfect examples of being out of line. He pointed his wand at them from behind some bushes, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything to them.

Something inside of him was screaming at him not to do it. His wand was trembling in his hand, and it too seemed somehow to be discouraging him. 'What's stopping me?' Daniel wondered. It couldn't be his conscience because Mistress Schwartzekatze always told him that his conscience would always compel him to perform his duties as Nature's Elite.

The girl screamed again. Her grip on the tree root was slipping. Her expression was one of pure terror. "She's about to go under!" one of the men shouted.

Daniel had a moment of unexpected clarity. He knew exactly what he had to do. He pointed his wand at the men, and used magic to push them into the stream. He ran forward and grabbed hold of the girl's slipping hand. Then, he reached out with his free hand and pulled her out of the water.

The girl sputtered and spat out water for a few seconds before she was able to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for saving me from those jerks." The girl looked up at him. "Who are you? I've never seen you around here before. You're a warlock, aren't you?"

She wasn't afraid of him. Jasmine had said that non magicals were scared of warlocks because warlocks were better than non magicals. Wasn't she supposed to be scared of him because he was a warlock, and she a non magical?

"My name's Daniel," he told her simply.

"And I'm Samantha, but I prefer Sam."

Daniel smiled. "Try to stay out of trouble, Sam," he said, and turned to leave.

"Wait!" she called. "I . . . "

Daniel shook his head. "I can't stay. I've helped and spoken with you too much already. I must go." Daniel's intellect told him that he was wrong for getting too involved with Sam. It told him that he was going against everything he'd been taught.

But there was a little piece of warmth inside him now that he couldn't readily identify or explain. It wasn't the return of the feeling he had when Mistress Schwartzekatze or Jasmine were around, but it was similar. The warmth frightened him a bit, but Daniel liked the feeling, despite himself. Thoroughly confused, he headed toward Starkstrasse.

* * *

Was there anything in this chapter that made you confused? If so, what confused you and how?

Is this chapter consistent with the rest of the story?

Were there any details that maybe weren't essential to introducing you to this AU world? If so, which ones?

Is Mistress Schwarztekatze a believable character? If not, what about her makes her unrealistic (other than the fact that she's a witch)?

Thank you for your time and (hopefully) your reviews. I appreciate those who read, and most especially, those who give me input!


	3. The Black Cat

**Thank you again for your reviews and for reading this story. Replies:**

**The gangsta of love: Thanks for your input and for specifics on what your impressions were and what you liked. Your review, as always, was helpful.**

**Luiz4200: I'm glad that you like Sam being in the story.**

**:)  
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The Black Cat

Halfway between the forest and Starkstrasse, Daniel remembered the second half of Mistress Schwartzekatze's instructions. He was supposed to enter a few houses, and cast spells on sleeping residents.

Daniel didn't think he'd be able to do that half of the instructions that night. He was too drowsy. His was blinking tiredly, struggling to keep his eyes open. He let out a big yawn and mechanically kept walking along the street he was on. Before he knew it, he was drifting over to the side of Reichstrasse and lying down.

He woke up confused to the sound of a cat's yowl. He opened his eyes to see a black cat's yellow eyes fixed on him. He saw the cobblestone, and felt its cold touch beneath him.

It was dawn, and Daniel didn't remember where he was. He thought for a moment before vaguely remembering the events of the night. Performing duties, that girl, Starkstrasse . . .

Starkstrasse! Of course! If he got to Starkstrasse, then maybe Mistress Schwartzekatze would find him and take him back to the hut.

Daniel wandered the streets, looking for Starkstrasse, and had the black cat with him. The cat seemed to be pretty opinionated about where Daniel should go. The cat would meow loudly, heading in a certain direction. Whenever Daniel didn't follow, the cat would pounce on the young warlock and attack him with its claws.

Daniel was starting to get scared. When he was wandering the night before, it didn't matter which way he went. But that morning, when he didn't recognize any bend in any street, and was alarmed to discover that he didn't know the way back to Starkstrasse. Despite the small size of the village, he was lost.

Other people started to come onto the streets. The black cat was hissing at them all. Many were frightened of Daniel in his robes and the antagonistic black cat by his side. They scampered off, but there was one old man, perhaps whose sight was going, who didn't seem to take Daniel as an evil warlock. "Are you lost?" he asked.

The black cat attacked the old man, trying to drive him off. Daniel was angry at the black cat, mostly because he was lost, and he didn't want to stay lost. He needed directions, and he needed the black cat to not drive off the people who were trying to help him.

He was lost, and the old man had acknowledged that. Daniel knew better than to talk to a non magical, but he didn't know how to get to Starkstrasse, and the old man did. Without the old man's help, Daniel was stuck wandering the streets, trying to find his way on his own.

Daniel was sick of the black cat using its claws on him, was sick of the cat's pouncing, was sick of it trying to control where he went, and was overall sick of the cat being with him as he wandered the streets! He ran away from that black cat.

As he went, he didn't notice that he'd reached Starkstrasse until he crashed into a very familiar face. "Here you are, back on Starkstrasse," said Mistress Schwartzekatze. He must've found his way as he was running from the black cat, even if he hadn't realized it.

The cat had caught up with Daniel and was purring at Mistress Schwartzekatze's feet. Mistress Schwartzekatze looked down at the cat and chuckled. "You found a little helper, didn't you Daniel?"

"I didn't find it, it found me!" he replied.

"So it must've. It's a dutiful schwartze katze, a dutiful black cat," said Mistress Schwartzekatze. "Black cats are traditional guides for the young people of Nature's Elite, such as you and your sister."

"Really, Mistress Schwartzekatze? Does that mean your family's been 'guiding' young witches and warlocks for generations?" Daniel asked. "Is that how your family got that name?"

"Yes, yes, exactly! My family traces back along one of the longest wizarding lines in Germany. We were some of the first to take young witches and wizards to teach, back when magic was new!" the witch boasted. "Come, child. We must go back to the hut now. There is too much chance of mingling with the village folk if we stay too long past sunrise. You must tell me what you were up to all night as we go back."

Daniel told her how east of Starkstrasse had been mostly empty. He told her about the night watchman, and how he had gotten away. He told her how he'd found men in the woods.

"Yes, very good. What did you do to them?"

"I, uh, I shot them into the stream."

"That is all right for a beginner," Mistress Schwartzekatze said approvingly. "But even the bolder of warlocks need an extra motivation to deal with non magicals for the first time. Tell me, what was yours?"

Daniel began to sweat, and become a little jittery. "W-well, you see, there was this girl about to drown in the stream, a-and they were tormenting her."

"So your motivation was that you saw how horrible they could be to their own kind?"

"N-not exactly," he admitted. Daniel knew it wasn't the best time to say that he thought _witches and warlocks_ were horrible to their own kind, with the harsh punishments they faced every time they messed up. He felt butterflies flying around inside his stomach as he realized he was probably facing the biggest punishment of his life. He instantly wished he hadn't admitted it because it was sure to lead into him admitting that he'd done what he'd done to save the girl, and his punishment would be even worse than what he was already anticipating.

"What helped you do it then?"

"The girl," he said sheepishly. Yeah, he knew that the girl was going to come into the conversation sooner or later after he'd admitted his motivation wasn't to harm non magicals for being horrible to their own kind.

"What about the girl?"

"She was terrified, and she was about to go under."

"And?"

"Then I used magic to shove the men into the stream, and rushed to save Sam . . ."

Daniel realized his mistake too late. He hadn't meant to bring Sam's name into the conversation. Because Mistress Schwartzekatze knew that he'd stopped even for a moment to speak with her afterwards, he was in for a punishment so nasty that he couldn't even imagine what punishment his mistress would deem fitting.

"YOU KNOW HER NAME? YOU MEAN YOU STARTED TO GET FAMILIAR WITH A NON MAGICAL?"

"I didn't mean to!" Daniel said quickly. "It was an accident!"

"You know better than to talk to non magicals!" Mistress Schwartzekatze hissed. "You are never to speak to that girl again, understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

Daniel got lectured all the way back to the hut about non magicals and proper behavior for Nature's Elite. He was told again the story of the Weissvolk, and was warned that his behavior would lead him up the same alley as them.

When they arrived at the hut, Daniel was again turned into a crow and locked in a cage, after which he was to single-handedly scrub the cauldron and the outhouse, polish the brooms, and stock up on any potion ingredient whose container wasn't one hundred percent full. Mistress Schwartzekatze told him that he would stay as a crow for a week. It was the most serious thing he'd ever done wrong, so therefore carried the most serious consequence he'd ever had.

Daniel sat in the cage and sulked, feeling completely sorry for himself. It was bad enough that he was stuck as a crow for a week, but he was also starting to get scared about his future. Mistress Schwartzekatze seemed to think that he could easily share the same fate as the Weissvolk - reduced to an ugly, unintelligent, non magic creature. Was he turning out that way? That thought wasn't pleasant, and it chilled Daniel to the core of every bone in his body.

* * *

Was there anything in this chapter that made you confused? If so, what confused you and how?

Is this chapter consistent with the rest of the story?

Were there any details that maybe weren't essential to introducing/explaining aspects this AU world? If so, which ones?

Is there any part of this AU world that needs better explanation in order to have the story make sense? What?

Is Mistress Schwarztekatze a believable character? If not, what about her makes her unrealistic (other than the fact that she's a witch)?

Thank you for your time and (hopefully) your reviews. I appreciate those who read, and most especially, those who give me input!


	4. When Darkness Comes

**Thank you reviewers for your time. Your reviews are always interesting to read. Now, it's time to reply to those reviews I didn't already reply to.**

**The gangsta of love - Thanks for your time. I really hope this means my OC is becoming better, if only slightly, developed.  
**

**Luiz4200 - The old man? No, he was just another one of the nameless villagers on the street that won't reappear. What he was is a result of a weird mood I was in when I wrote that last chapter. For some reason, I really wanted to put some foreshadowing in there. Yeah, that's right, foreshadowing. I believe you had a question about whether or not Danny Phantom characters will appear in your past reviews. Draw your own conclusions. . . ;)**

**Thanks again for your reviews!**

Disclaimer: If you've seen it in the TV show Danny Phantom, it does not belong to me. Uuh . . . That goes for previous chapters I forgot to disclaim too.

* * *

When Darkness Comes

It had been weeks since Daniel had been turned back into a warlock and made to scrub the stuff and replenish the potion ingredients. Daniel, feeling he should get back on his mistress' good side after what had happened, had put extra effort into his lessons to make up for what he had missed, and Mistress Schwartzekatze had not forced Daniel to return to the village in attempt to remind the villagers of witches' and warlocks' superiority. Mistress Schwartzekatze gave Daniel more lessons about magical rights and duties than she would have if the incident at the stream had not happened, but Daniel was happy - with all the extra lessons, he finally got a couple of flying lessons.

"Daniel! Jasmine!" Mistress Schwartzekatze called one day. "Get the hut tidied up! Put your best robes on! Groom yourselves! Master Dunkel himself is coming!"

Though it was their duty to rescue magical children from non magical parents, few witches and warlocks had the power to detect magic within a child. Not only was Master Dunkel was one of the few warlocks with that gift, but he was also in charge of Germany's small squad of witches and warlocks of that same ability. Normally, he sent one of his subordinates to deal with a small village's annual search for magic, preferring to search only the larger cities himself. It was an honor to have him come to a village so small that only one hut of witches and warlocks was needed to keep it in order.

Mistress Schwartekatze, Daniel, and Jasmine rushed to make everything in their hut fit for company. Daniel and Jasmine were set mostly to tasks like organizing the potion ingredients, and arranging bouquets of Blood Blossoms and other magical plants, while Mistress Schwartzekatze made a special supper with Spargel (white asparagus) and specialty cheese. When they were done, the hut was nicer than Daniel had ever seen it.

Master Dunkel arrived just after sunset. His pitch-black hair and icy eyes were as unfriendly as could be. He held himself aloof, and sneered down at the three residents of the hut he was entering. Daniel felt instinctively alert, as if a block of ice had just slid rapidly down his spine, or perhaps as if he'd just been caught by surprise by a bucket of freezing water dumped in his face. There was something powerful about Master Dunkel's presence, and it wasn't pleasant at all.

A boy with very dark brown hair and the same icy eyes slid quietly in behind Master Dunkel. "Wolfgang," said Master Dunkel. "Bring me my quill and some parchment." Silently, Wolfgang, the boy that had followed Master Dunkel brought the quill and the parchment. Dunkel sat at the table, and wrote:

Children's Magic Investigation

Conducted by Vladimir Dunkel

At that point Master Dunkel glanced up and asked. "The non magical town, it's called Bachplatzchen, isn't it?"

"Bachplatzberg, sir," Mistress Schwartzekatze replied.

"Bachplatzberg," he repeated, writing the village's name and the date down. "Our evening's meal will have to wait. There is business to attend to. Wolfgang, stay with the other children."

"Yes, father," said Wolfgang.

After the adults were gone, Daniel said, "Hi, I'm Daniel! I'm fourteen!"

"Wolfgang," Wolfgang mumbled. "Fifteen."

"Do you want to race brooms or something?"

"No I don't want to 'race brooms or something.'"

"Oh," Daniel mumbled. "What do you want to do, then?"

"Anything, as long as it's away from you naive little brat."

"I am not naive!" Daniel protested.

"You _are _pretty naïve to think I want to be friends with you, and I bet you don't even know where good brooms come from!"

"Oh please," said Daniel, suddenly not liking the other warlock boy as much. "Isn't it obvious? They're just carved pieces of wood and straw with an enchantment on them."

Wolfgang snickered. "That's what you think! The weak brooms that are given to beginners are made that way, but not the good brooms."

Jasmine, recognizing the fragility of the situation, interrupted the conversation. "Wolfgang, please! What's your problem? He doesn't need to know about that yet. It's better if he doesn't learn that until he's older."

"Oh, I see," said Wolfgang. "He's too much of a ninny to handle it?"

"You know, Wolfgang, there are better things to do around here than to insult my little brother."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Well . . ." said Jasmine. "You could insult the non magicals instead, cast some spells, things like that."

For a split second, an expression of twisted pleasure came across Wolfgang Dunkel's face. "It's a pathetic excuse for a village, but all right," he agreed. It seemed that he would enjoy himself using magic in Bachplatzberg, despite his complaint about the size.

"But didn't Master Dunkel tell you to stay here?" Daniel asked, remembering what Wolfgang's father had told him to do.

"But didn't Master Dunkel tell you to stay here?" Wolfgang mimicked. "I bet _you_ do everything you're told to. What's the matter, no ambition to advance? As long as it's within your call of Nature's Elite, and you don't get caught, it's all right. It will do you good in the long run – give you experience and all that."

Wolfgang's comment stung Daniel and shut him up. There was nothing wrong with him! Why was Wolfgang so mean?

On his way out the door, Wolfgang turned to face Daniel. "Oh, and wimpling? You're lucky your sister's here to stand up for you."

Jasmine sighed. "You really should start taking magic more seriously, Daniel." She turned to leave the hut.

"Wait a minute," Daniel said, ignoring the sting of Wolfgang's parting comments. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Bachplatzberg," Jasmine said. "Don't worry - I'm not going with Wolfgang. I'm going to be on my own. It's just that I've always wanted a chance use all the jinxes we've been learning."

Daniel felt ashamed of himself for not going with them. Now that they were gone, he felt lonely and anxious, like something really important was missing there. Not only did Wolfgang think he was a ninny for not knowing the secret of good brooms, but if he found out he was the only one who didn't go to the village, he'd probably think he was scared of the non magicals or something.

* * *

There had never before been a time in Daniel's life when he'd taken such great lengths to learn something of magical academics. He'd never really asked questions about academics in class, and he certainly had never tried to learn them outside of class. But after what Wolfgang and Jasmine had said about him, he felt like he had to know the secret of creating a good broomstick to stop being so big of a ninny. It was a matter of pride to get that information, even if it meant going to Mistress Schwartzekatze's textbooks.

He had stolen Mistress Schwartzekatze's copy of A Complete Guide to Magical Equipment and was hiding outback behind a large bush. He didn't want to be caught reading this stuff. It wasn't that he thought doing research outside of class was forbidden, but his sister thought he shouldn't know about this stuff and, if it really was as hard to handle as she'd let on, he'd imagine that his mistress would feel similarly about the topic.

Daniel cautiously flipped through the book, reading chapter titles by dim wand light. He searched for any mention of broomsticks in the chapter titles, until at last he came to Chapter XIII, _Wands, Amulets, and Broomsticks_.

His heart started to pump faster as he realized that this was the chapter most likely to have the info. He didn't know whether his heart beat faster because of the anticipation of success, fear of what he'd discover, or if he was just scared of getting caught. He took a deep breath and took a look at the chapter.

What you will learn:

Basic Safety

Proper Maintenance

Usage Techniques

Creating Your Own

Daniel quickly turned to the section called _Creating your Own_, and was instantly sickened. There were illustrations popping out at him from all over the place. Some were harmless, but those didn't trouble him. The ones that troubled him were sketches of something cruel and very painful-looking being done to humans.

There was an illustration under the section heading that captured everything that was sickening to Daniel. The illustration showed humans with pained expressions being turned into the objects mentioned in the chapter title. The caption read: 'High-quality brooms and powerful amulets are often enchanted humans. A student's first wand should be a human – preferably a non magical family member (when born into a non magical family).'

Daniel wanted to cry, faint, or puke after seeing the picture and reading the caption. 'A non magical family member?' His parents! He knew he shouldn't think of his parents as anything more than non magicals, but he did. He felt sickened enough about transforming anyone into an object, (didn't that go way beyond keeping them in line?) but his _parents_? There was no way he would ever forget what that picture showed about warlocks.

Trembling, his hands shut the book. He examined his wand carefully, as if trying to find a human face hidden in the wood. He and Jasmine still had their first wands, but were they really only wands?

* * *

Was there anything in this chapter that made you confused? If so, what confused you and how?

Is this chapter consistent with the rest of the story?

Were there any details that maybe weren't essential to introducing/explaining aspects this AU world? If so, which ones?

Is there any part of this AU world that needs better explanation in order to have the story make sense? What?

Are Mistress Schwarztekatze and the Dunkels believable characters? If not, what about them makes them unrealistic (other than the fact that they're warlocks)?

Thank you for your time and (hopefully) your reviews. I appreciate those who read, and most especially, those who give me input!


	5. The Specialist

***Sorry about last week - I was at camp!* Okay, now on with the program!**

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Disclaimer: I don't own much in here.

* * *

The Specialist

Daniel tried to act naturally through dinner that night, but he couldn't stop trembling. He kept dropping his fork because he was trembling so badly, but all he could do was hope no one noticed. He was trying to keep his mind at the table, but every time he got close to mentally joining dinner, the horrible images from Mistress Schwartzekatze's books leapt out at him and grabbed his concentration.

Wolfgang noticed Daniel's behavior and pointed it out, saying: "Daniel is shivering in his chair. What is wrong with that sissy?"

Daniel wished Wolfgang wouldn't have said that because the moment the words were out of his mouth, everyone's attention turned to Daniel and his nervousness increased. Mistress Schwartzekatze's bright brown eyes seemed to turn red in his mind and Master Dunkel's black eyes and grim expression seemed to send a suffocating darkness his way. It was as if they could look right into his mind and see what he'd been up to. "Is there something you should tell us, hmm?" Master Dunkel asked.

He shifted extremely uncomfortably in his chair. He couldn't tell them what he'd been up to and how he felt about it. He was sick of all the extra lessons on his duty as Nature's Elite! "N-nothing," he told them. "I just heard noises when I was alone, and thought it was a phantom. I'm just a little spooked, that's all."

Daniel had been taught about what phantoms did. They were an ancient, monstrous breed of beings. If Nature had her way, they wouldn't exist. They ignored every rule Nature set for all but her elite, and then some. Known and feared among non magicals as 'poltergeists', phantoms actually protected the non magicals and did their best to ruin a sorcerer's mission.

Phantoms were the biggest opponent of magical society. They had many powers, like invisibility and vanishing. Luckily, most weren't actually potent enough to actually harm a fully grown witch or wizard, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try. They did everything from causing unexplained noises, ruining spells and potions, to trying to kill a sorcerer! A phantom in one's home was not good news.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mistress Schwartzekatze screeched. "You know how serious a matter a phantom is!"

Wolfgang rolled his eyes. "I don't think there's really a phantom. I think there's just a warlock trainee who can't handle being alone. Besides, with all the Blood Blossoms you've got around here, a phantom couldn't stand to even poke its head into this place."

Daniel's eyebrows went up in alarm. Blood Blossoms! Blood Blossoms were the only known herb that kept phantoms away. There went the plausibility of his cover story.

"I thought you'd learned your lessons!" said Mistress Schwartzekatze. "Lie to the non magicals whenever necessary, but never lie to your mistress. Know which herbs keep dangers away! I should've known that you were up to a more serious offense when you told me about that non magical girl you saved."

"A forgetful and undutiful student is no good," said Master Dunkel. "Go on and discipline him. Your pupil seems to need a reminder that he should act like Nature's Elite should - keeping non magicals in their place and keeping on top of his studies. He must become recommitted to doing all he can for Nature!"

Daniel pouted as he felt the familiar sensation of being turned into a crow. It was always an awkward feeling. Although he was used to it, the transformation was still unpleasant.

Master Dunkel frowned as he observed the punishment, and Daniel had a nasty feeling that he'd do something worse to him. The magic-sensing warlock gave him a major case of the goose bumps! "Is this your usual method of punishment?" Master Dunkel asked.

"Yes sir," said Mistress Schwartzekatze.

"It doesn't seem to be working for this one. Perhaps a different method of punishment would produce better results." Master Dunkel suggested. Uh-oh. Here came whatever it was Master Dunkel wanted to do to him.

"Of course," Mistress Schwartzekatze suggested. "What do you recommend?" She undid Daniel's transformation, but Daniel didn't feel the usual relief of feeling himself back inside his human body. He knew Master Dunkel was probably going to hurt him in some way, and Mistress Schwartzekatze was going to follow suit in future punishments.

"Watch closely!" Master Dunkel ordered. He sent a spell flying in Daniel's direction.

* * *

Daniel was in the center of Bachplatzberg, at the intersection of Starkstrasse and the winding street of Baerweg. It was broad daylight - noon. A crowd of people encircled him, each wearing a snarling expression. What was he doing here? He shouldn't be there.

A girl stepped forward out of the crowd. He'd only ever seen her once, but he remembered her well. It was Sam, the girl he'd saved from drowning.

"There he is," she said, her voice resounding from every stone in the town. "The warlock!"

"You're turning me in? But I saved you!"

"You should have realized the consequences when you saved me. I will turn you in, warlock." Sam's expression was cruel, inconsistent with what Daniel expected from her. After all, she had tried to talk to him and thank him for saving her.

Nonetheless, Daniel knew he was wrong for interaction with her as the snarling crowd of townsfolk marched forward, closing in on the warlock standing there in broad daylight. They reminded him more of angry beasts than of human beings. He was at the mercy of the mob, so he knew he was in big trouble.

He reached for his wand, but his robe pocket was empty. He looked desperately around for a way out, and spotted an escape route down Baerweg. He fought his way through a cluster of old folk, and started running from the center of town, down the winding twisted street that led away from the mob.

Daniel ran out of the city, and deep into the forest, seeking refuge in nature, but it seemed Nature was out for his blood too. He nearly fell to the currents of the stream, which were trying to drag him under. Was Nature fond of irony?

He managed to outrun the villagers, loosing them as he approached a ring of stumps. In his panic, he didn't notice the stumps formed a perfect circle, the type in which some of the strongest and most complex magical rituals took place.

The boy paused for a moment to catch his breath, only to lose it again when he heard an intense laughing sound coming from as though from inside his mind. The laughing grew louder as he looked around for the cause, and saw that there was no one inside the ring of stumps but himself. There had to be someone there, hidden, perhaps ready to show themselves and attack at any moment.

No one came out of hiding to attack him, but the voice started speaking to him. "You were warned boy," the voice said. "You helped a non magical, so your magic has been taken from you and you are meeting your doom."

Then all at once, the roots of the stumps came alive, and Daniel was buried underneath them. The roots dragged him around the circle, as the voice chanted about a warlock's fall. "I am Nature!" the voice proclaimed, finally identifying itself. "For crimes of betraying your duty, you are sentenced to live out life in this forest, sharing the fate of the Weissvolk!" It was under Nature's orders that the roots began to smother him. . . .

* * *

In a cold sweat, Daniel's eyes opened, and he sat up on the floor of Mistress Schwartzekatze's hut. It took him a few moments to realize that he was not in the forest being buried alive by Nature. What he'd seen had scared the living daylights out of him and was so vivid that Daniel's mind had, on some level, accepted it as reality.

"How was it?" Master Dunkel asked.

"The tree stumps, and the roots, those non magicals, they all . . . " Daniel gasped out in a single breath. "And I was about to . . . " His eyes involuntarily filled with tears. "It was horrible!"

"Yes, I'm sure it was. All those things can be avoided if you change your ways and learn like a warlock ought."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir." Still trembling from the experience he added, "I won't forget my lessons again!"

Master Dunkel turned to speak to Mistress Schwartzekatze. "You see the effectiveness of showing an apprentice the punishment Nature would bestow upon him, through the use of an illusion charm?"

"Yes," Mistress Schwartzekatze answered. "It could shape Daniel up quite nicely."

There was more to Dunkel and Schwartzekatze's conversation, but Daniel didn't hear it as he started to calm down. His mind accepted that he was safe in the hut, and he started to think about what he'd seen.

Master Dunkel had said that it was an illusion charm. An illusion charm? Then maybe that wasn't as real. Looking back at the experience, it didn't seem quite as realistic as when he was experiencing it. It had all just been an illusion, and he'd let himself get tricked.

He'd let himself get tricked? Daniel felt angry at himself for that night, first for not being cool enough for Wolfgang, then forgetting his lessons, and finally for letting himself get tricked! He was not going to forget this – and he wasn't going to let himself forget that everything he'd seen in the illusion was just a trick. Angry about the trickery, Daniel thought some very strong thoughts that went against what he'd been taught, but he knew better than to give any indication of such thoughts, so he remained silent.

" . . . withdrawal from a presence he's always had around him. A very beautiful presence." Master Dunkel was saying to Mistress Schwartzekatze.

"And what presence would that be?" she asked.

"Daniel has a magic sense, and those with a magic sense can always sense when magic is present, even when they haven't yet learned to recognize it."

"Really? This is great news!" exclaimed Mistress Schwartzekatze. "It's been such an honor to train a warlock like Daniel, as forgetful of his lessons as he might be, but I knew he had great potential. I just didn't know how great his potential really was!"

"Silence!" Master Dunkel ordered. "A magic sense is not the mark of a warlock with great potential - it's just a rare ability – but you're right, he does have great potential too. Warlocks with special talents such as a magic sense become specialists, and wizards with great potential blossom to be magical leaders, such as myself. Daniel, with both special talent and great potential, is a strong candidate for my successor of leader of the magic-sensing specialists."

Mistress Schwartzekatze looked thrilled at the prospect.

"As to his training," Master Dunkel continued, "yes it would be a great honor for you, wouldn't it? Regrettably, those who are called to train warlocks taken from outside our society, like you, only possess the ability to give him basic training. As soon as his basic training is complete, I'd like to train him myself. Oh, and Mistress Schwartzekatze? You'd better see to it that he's trained properly – no more of this forgetting his lessons and duties nonsense – or else! I am not accustomed to having to teach my advanced students the basic magic!"

"Yes sir," she said.

"Come, Wolfgang, we must be going. Frau Schwartzekatze has a lot of work to do." Wolfgang went to his father, and they disappeared with a sickening screeching sound.

Mistress Schwartzekatze grinned. "Daniel," she said. "You've got a lot of intensive training in front of you, so you better shape up. This will mean an earlier start time, a later finishing time, and more supervised trips into the village."


	6. Calling on the Mansons

A/N - It seems I've forgotten to include the time period in the story! I'd like to thank The gangsta of love for asking, and now, so you all know, this is supposed to be in the Middle Ages. I'm sorry about that. :)

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**The gangsta of love - Thanks for asking me more about the setting for this story. I'm sure other people were wondering about that too.  
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**Luiz4200 - Maybe a little, but she wouldn't purposely harm her brother.  
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Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize from anywhere else, especially from Danny Phantom.

* * *

Calling on the Mansons

Daniel found his training was more intense. They started at dawn, and didn't end until long after sunset. He didn't have leisure time anymore. In fact, thanks to his training, he barely getting enough time to sleep. It was as if Mistress Schwartzekatze was determined to complete his basic training in a few more months instead of a few more years.

But despite his training, he was still having time to think and feel about things. At night, when Mistress Schwartzekatze took him into the village to practice using spells against non magicals, he had time. He was confused about his feelings toward what he was doing in the village. He'd been taught that reminding non magicals of their inferiority was a good thing, but there was something constantly squirming inside of him that caused him pain whenever he used a spell against a non magical. On those increasingly rarer occasions when he wasn't so exhausted that he fell asleep when his head hit the pillow, he'd lie awake in bed, feeling guilty about what he had to do to non magicals.

One evening as Mistress Schwartzekatze was taking him to Bachplatzberg, she announced, "Because of your improvement in your treatment of the non magicals, I've got a special surprise for you - but you'll have to wait until after our usual searching of the streets."

Daniel wondered what his mistress could possibly surprise him with. Knowing her, it could be a good thing or a bad thing, and he couldn't tell until his surprise came. She'd never surprised him during a trip to Bachplatzberg before.

After checking the deserted streets for anyone still outdoors, Mistress Schwartzekatze led him to a house. "Yes, this is the house, I know it!" she crackled. "I've searched for this house in my crystal ball. Now for your surprise Daniel!" she said. With a flick of her wand, she disguised Daniel's wizard robes as the clothes of a poor non magical village lad. She pulled out powder from her pocket, sprinkled some on herself, and became invisible.

What was going on? Daniel had never come across a situation like this before, in practice or theory. Why did he have to appear as a lone non magical boy for whatever it was that would take place?

"Remember," Mistress Schwartzekatze whispered from beside him, "you are not here to get to know these people, but to curse them as much as your imagination will allow. Go on, knock!"

Why would Mistress Schwartzekatze warn him about getting to know the people if he'd been doing so well and she was coming in with him? Why would she want him to politely knock on their door? But knock, Daniel did.

"You need to sever the tie you accidentally made with that girl," Mistress Schwartzekatze explained.

Samantha! This was where she lived?

A blonde man with nice clothing answered the door. A woman's call of "Who's there, Jeremy?" came from inside the house.

"It's a boy. He's alone!" the man called back.

"Tell him to come in, quickly!" the woman responded.

Daniel hesitated in the doorway. He had a feeling that what was ahead of him wasn't going to be pretty. He wasn't eager to go inside to face Sam and her family.

"What are you waiting for?" Mistress Schwartzekatze whispered in his ear. "Go in!"

He cautiously walked in. The door was slammed behind him as soon as he was inside.

"Young man, I'm making it clear right now, that next time you're out after dark, you should seek refuge at the chapel, not here. If you come back here again, I will injure you severely. The only reason you were admitted into our home tonight is that we can't be too careful with witches about. Being out after dark seems to especially infuriate them, and they don't care what class they take their anger out on." The man said.

Daniel, meanwhile, chose to look around. The front room appeared to be a formal dining room. The table was set with three partially eaten plates. Side dishes surrounded the platter and some sort of poultry sat on the table as the main course. There was a woman, presumably Sam's mother who was also wearing nice clothes, and there was Sam, who appeared not to have as fancy of a taste in clothing as her parents. Daniel noticed that Sam only had vegetables on her plate, and was eating none of the bird. It was a pleasant room for Daniel to be in, or it would've been if he had no clue what would shortly be taking place.

"Daniel?" Sam asked. "Mother, Father, this is the boy I told you about, the boy who rescued me from drowning!"

"Yes, I suppose he must be. I've never seen him around here before," said her father.

"Father, you must thank him properly for saving me, I insist!"

Her father shook his head. "Samantha, you've been talking of nothing but that boy for weeks, and you don't really know anything about him. Your mother and I are glad you're all right, but you must realize that as a member of an inferior class, it was his duty to assist you. You've got to stop obsessing over all things forbidden and unknown!"

"Inferior," Mistress Schwartzekatze whispered in Daniel's ear. "Ha! If only they knew what you are, and that they are the ones inferior!"

"He's not as bad as you thought, is he father?" Sam asked. "You thought he was evil even though he saved me! Has he done anything to hurt us?"

"I know he hasn't done anything to hurt us _yet_," said Jeremy, "but you must learn to hold your tongue! A child should be seen but not heard!"

"Hurry up, Daniel!" Mistress Schwartzekatze hissed. "Each moment you spend with them without carrying out your magical duties increases your chances of corruption! Do you want to end up like the Weissvolk? Jinx them!"

Daniel reached into his robe pocket and pulled out his wand. As soon as the wand left his pocket, the enchantment on his robe disappeared. The Manson family screamed. He pointed his wand at Sam as he was expected to do.

Sam's face made his job difficult for him. She stood there with her eyes wide, looking in Daniel's mind exactly as she had the night he had pulled her out of the stream. She was stunningly beautiful to him. He could never jinx her, but Mistress Schwartzekatze would be furious if he refused. What could he do?

Daniel's hesitation in jinxing Sam gave Mrs. Manson the opportunity to attack while he was distracted. She grabbed the platter out from under the poultry and swung it hard. It hit Daniel on top of the head, and he blacked out.


	7. Daniel Phantom

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**Luiz4200 - No, they don't know Danny's parents, but the part about the mistress was a really good guess as to what's going to happen. (Eventually.) :)  
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Disclaimer: I do not own anything off of television or out of mythology.

* * *

Daniel Phantom

Daniel woke up in the hut in pain the next morning. His head was throbbing, and his sister was looking down at him. "Oh good, you're awake," she said, and then called for Mistress Schwartzekatze. He didn't remember being moved, so Mrs. Manson must have knocked him out very deeply.

"What happened?" he asked, as Mistress Schwartzekatze came.

"That non magical girl's mother knocked you out. They were going to take you to the mayor, and tell him to burn you for being a warlock. Associating with non magicals is forbidden for more than just to avoid corruption, but to avoid danger. Can you see why we must put them in their place?" Mistress Schwartzekatze asked.

Daniel nodded stiffly, not really meaning that he understood why they had to do cruel things as warlocks, but he knew he should. Mistress Schwartzekatze took the stiffness of the movement to be from Daniel's head injury, and he was left alone about it. "I turned the adults into birds, like that which they were eating," Mistress Schwartzekatze continued, "but the girl, Daniel, you must curse her yourself. It is the only way you can break your bond with her."

Daniel nodded. He knew he must obey his mistress and do his duties, even if he absolutely hated what he was being asked. He didn't like the idea of hurting Sam, but his mistress was telling him it was the only way to end the bond he had with her, a non magical. It was only out of trying to be a good wizard that he would ever agree to harm Sam.

What could he possibly do to Sam that would harm her just barely enough that Mistress Schwartzekatze and Nature would be satisfied? He could do small things, like giving her a rash, making her lose a prized trinket, or giving her the hiccups. Surely it didn't have to be anything big – he _was_ just a beginner.

He decided on giving her hiccups. Hiccups would be the very basic of his magical abilities, but it would suffice. He was a beginner after all. He'd seen what Nature would do to kill great beasts and trees. It would be little things like termites or an infected wound. Nature didn't often send bright bold lightening to kill something. Thinking about it in that light, something about the story of the Weissvolk seemed off. Why such a harsh punishment? Why not just take away their magic? Yet, it seemed so vivid. He still remembered the illusion of Nature's harsh punishment Master Dunkel had shown him.

He needed to focus. He was going to give Sam hiccups, right? What would that be like?

He imagined going to give her the hiccups. All it would take to make her hiccup was to point his wand and say one little word. One moment she would see him, open her mouth to scream, and then . . .

Daniel couldn't handle the thought of her screaming. He wasn't quite comfortable with the thought of anyone screaming, quite frankly. What was wrong with him? He'd just be doing what Nature wanted, wouldn't he? Why couldn't he handle the thought of a non magical screaming?

* * *

Daniel was given the day off to recover. Apparently, Mistress Schwartzekatze couldn't find her book for healing charms or potions. She'd taken Jazz somewhere, and said they'd be back the next morning. He was expected to rest, so he could shoot right back off into his training when they got back.

He couldn't rest, though. His insides were squirming and twisting too badly. He felt bad about what he was supposed to do to Sam, and what Mistress Schwartzekatze had done to her parents. He noticed he was fidgeting with his wand out of stress.

That reminded him of what he'd read because of Wolfgang Dunkel's taunt. Was his wand really human? Was it really his mother or father? The thought made him even more uncomfortable.

Fine! If this was something's way of telling him that it didn't want him to do as he was being taught, then he'd listen. Even being turned into an ugly stupid non magical creature seemed to be better than his internal guilty torment! Who knew? Maybe it was even Nature saying that it had a different duty for him.

He would never get a better chance than this to test his theory. He was still young, so if he got caught, which wasn't likely while being left alone for the whole day, it wouldn't necessarily mean the end for him. He'd better do something while he could.

He needed to find out how to change an object back into a human, and how to make another wand to avoid suspicion. Daniel stole Mistress Schwartezkatze's copy of A Complete Guide to Magical Equipment again, and opened to where he'd seen the disturbing pictures. He wasn't disappointed in the data he found. The book told him exactly how he could do what he was planning to do.

The book said he'd need to get live wood and let it soak in the potion he was making for eight hours, so he grabbed some of Mistress Schwartzekatze's potion ingredients and got to work. Daniel left the potion to boil while he ran out into the woods. He climbed a tree, plucked off a new branch from a tree, and was back to the hut in a jiffy. He put the stick in the cauldron, and thought of what he could do next.

He felt like a phantom when he was preparing to potentially free a non magical parent from a wooden prison, and that could help him plan his day and his excuses. If he was like a phantom, then he could have fun preventing Mistress Schwartzekatze and Jasmine from using magic on humans. He could mess things up in the hut to give them trouble. When Mistress Schwartzekatze got home, he'd have something about what happened, right? If he was like a phantom, then it should be close enough to the truth to blame a phantom. With no Blood Blossoms to mess up his excuse that day, he could pretend to be a phantom all he wanted.

He was cool with being like a phantom. Secretly, he could be an unofficial phantom. He'd be Daniel Phantom, or maybe Danny Phantom, when no one was looking. He grinned, starting to really like thinking of himself as a phantom.

It was time to get started on his work as a phantom. He rearranged all the potion ingredients, knocked furniture over, and put a snakeskin on his mistress' bed. Daniel chuckled as he imagined Mistress Schwartzekatze's reaction to the whole business. It was a good job for a first-time phantom.

Feeling particularly phantom-like by that point, he decided to pay a little visit to Bachplatzberg to reverse the cruel bit of magic his mistress had done the night before. He used the enchantment charm Mistress Schwartzekatze had used on his robe the night before to disguise his clothes, looked up the counter charm for turning humans into animals, and went into Bachplatzberg. He couldn't protect the Manson family from harm the night before, but he could reverse the damage.

It didn't take long for him to get to the streets of Bachplatzberg, which were crowded during the day. Children ran around happily playing and having fun, vendors tried to sell their goods, and women walked around on errands while gossiping about this or that. It was quite a change from the sleepy Bachplatzberg he'd first visited.

Daniel couldn't help but overhear things he'd rather not hear while walking through the streets. From several of the rumors he heard, it seemed everyone knew there was a new warlock around town, who would befriend their daughters one night, and curse her parents another. From the viciousness of the rumors, it seemed they would never forgive him for being a wizard, even when he'd started playing phantom, and it hurt. But then again, he realized, they rejected actual phantoms too.

Looking around carefully as he approached, Daniel went to Sam's house and peeked in the window. He didn't want anyone to see him and recognize him as a wizard, but he had to perform the counter charm to appease his conscience. He really hoped he could avoid being caught.

Sam's parents were still there, as birds, but Sam herself was nowhere in sight. Hoping Sam was okay, Daniel quickly muttered the counter charm, and ran before the Manson parents could catch him there.


	8. Daniel's Wand

**I'm sorry for the wait. I guess I got distracted by some new stuff I got.**

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Daniel's Wand

It had been eight hours since Daniel had put the wood in the potion to make it a wand. He pulled his new wand out, and tested it out by trying a few spells with it. It didn't feel like it was quite his wand, but despite what Mistress Schwartzekatze's book had said about wands made from potioned woods being inferior, it worked just fine.

"Yes!" he shouted in triumph. "Now to free the poor soul trapped as my old wand!"

Eager to find what he needed to do to help that poor soul, Daniel grabbed Mistress Schwartzekatze's book, and hurried to read before daylight was gone. The book gave the words of the counter charm, said that the enchanted person must be washed in water before being changed back, and that the change must take place away from a witch's or warlock's house. Following the book's directions, Daniel found himself walking through Bachplatzberg to get to the stream where he'd first met Sam.

Daniel glanced around to see if anyone was coming before performing the magic. He didn't think he was in any danger, but it seemed to him that what he was doing was a very private matter. No one was around, so Daniel washed the wand in the water, and placed it down gently on the grass. He pointed his new wand at it and said, "Epanaforá!"

A small green spark flew from his wand, and bathed the wand in front of him in a glowing green light. It glowed increasingly brighter for about five seconds before the wand disappeared with a pop, and left a man in simple clothing in its place. Daniel had succeeded in changing the wand back into a man!

"Vater?" Daniel asked, wondering if the man in front of him was really his old man. "Father, is that you?"

The man mumbled something completely incomprehensible as he struggled to get up. "Here, let me help you," Daniel said, offering his hand. The man took it, and slowly got to his feet.

"Danny, is that you?" he asked. He had a hopeful glint in his eye.

Daniel nodded, thrilled to find that his dad knew who he was. He could've had a really tough time trying to explain to his dad that he was his son and that he was older than when his dad had last seen him because his dad had been trapped as a wand for over a decade. Besides that, something inside him was really pleased to hear that his dad was hoping he was right about him being his son. This was great!

"Danny!" his dad exclaimed, with tears of joy in his eyes. He embraced his son.

Daniel understood his dad's tears. It was an emotional moment for him too. He'd always had an inward desire to meet his parents, and he was finally getting to meet his dad! It felt so good to reunite with a long-lost family member.

"They told me that you and mom didn't really care about me," Daniel whispered. "They told me that you abandoned me when my magic started to show itself when I was a baby, but that's not true, is it Dad? You loved me. You didn't abandon me. I want to hear that what they told me is a lie!"

"You're right," his dad said. "It is a lie. Your mother and I loved you and your sister so much. We could never reject you over a silly thing like that!" His dad hugged him tighter. "In fact, we were proud the day your power showed up. We knew you were destined to be a great wizard, and here you are, proving us right!"

Daniel beamed with pleasure. He thought he was merely going to calm his inner storm of guilt when he went to free his dad from the wand. He never would've imagined that his dad would stick around and tell him that he loved him. Yet, there was dad was telling him that he loved him, and that he was proud of him.

Daniel pulled out of the embrace of reunion. "Dad, are you okay? You were trapped for an awfully long time."

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for freeing me!" his dad said. "Look at you! My goodness how you've grown! You must be nearly sixteen by now!"

"I'm fourteen," Daniel corrected, grateful to be having that conversation with his dad.

"Fourteen? I was close, wasn't I?"

"Yeah."

"How are you doing? How's Jazz? Tell me what's happened to you since they took you away."

"Jazz? She's okay. We've both been being raised by a witch by the name of Mistress Schwartzekatze. She's been teaching us magic, and what she calls magical duties."

"Black Magic and Black Beliefs," Daniel's dad mumbled to himself.

Daniel didn't seem to hear his dad. He shivered at the thought of his mistress and continued, "If she knew what I was up to right now, she'd be furious. She says it's a crime to be around non magicals, even if they are your parents. She, and everyone else I know, keeps telling me that Nature will severely punish me for things like this when I grow up."

Daniel's dad was frowning. "How many ideas like this have they been drilling in your head?"

"They tell me that if I betray my magical duties as an adult, I'll share the same fate as the Weissvolk – forever turned into an ugly stupid non magical creature." Daniel told his dad. "I'm scared of that happening to me, but I think that squirming inside because of what you're expected to do is much worse."

"That squirm would be your conscience, listen to it. Don't worry about being turned into any sort of beast son – they lied to you about the Weissvolk."

If Daniel hadn't already been listening to his dad before that would've gotten his attention. "What do you know about the Weissvolk? How do you know?"

"I've lived with the Weissvolk," his dad replied, "in their town, Weissstadt. You were born there."

"Really? Then how did Jazz and I end up with Mistress Schwartzekatze?"

"Get comfortable son, I'll tell you everything. I'll start with how I first encountered the Weissvolk, and end with the day we were taken from Weissstadt."


	9. The Witch Hunter

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The Witch Hunter

"My name is Jack Fenton," Danny's dad said, launching into his long story, "Please don't think any less of me for what I'm about to tell you until you let me finish the whole story. My dad was a shoemaker in a small village up north. I grew up in fear of people like sorcerers, and when I was grown, I decided that was going to change."

"I became an amateur witch hunter, hoping that I could take down a few witches. I practiced witch extermination procedures for when I met the real thing. I was hoping to become more than just an amateur, but in my hometown, the witches only came a couple random nights a month and that made witch hunting hard. I decided I was done waiting for witches to come to me. I was going to look for where the witches lived."

"Everyone knows that witches live in the woods, so I packed my stuff and went into the woods alone. I got lost on my first day, but I didn't give up hope of finding a warlock to exterminate."

"I was running low on food and other supplies after the first week, but I didn't know how to return to civilization. I was about to give up and resign myself to dying alone in the woods when I finally spotted a village. I headed there as quickly as I could, not knowing that I'd finally found what I'd been looking for. By that point I was more concerned about survival than witch hunting."

"When I got to the village, I noticed something unsettling to me. Most folks in town were wearing the robes of sorcerers! They were white and they were made of coarse material, but they were sorcerers' robes. I'd set out to destroy small groups of the enemy, and had walked right into a whole town of their weirdos. I wished I had died in the woods, as I didn't think anyone there, even being weirdos and all, would refrain from torturing me. I was really antsy."

"But I was desperate, so I begged for food anyway. I was given some pitying looks and the food that I asked for. I didn't think that anyone in town would help me, even when I was desperate, so I was confused."

"Word spread quickly that there was a new face in town and that the newcomer was a non magical with witch hunting equipment. The mayor wanted to investigate if the rumors were true, if a witch hunter had come to their home. He came to see me, with his wife and two daughters close behind. He asked who I was and what I meant by entering their town with witch hunting stuff. His daughters were looking at me curiously, as if they'd never seen anything like me before."

"I admitted I was a witch hunter, desperate for provisions, and I asked for mercy. The mayor offered me a deal. If I would get rid of my witch hunting stuff, and never leave the city, then I could become part of their town of Weissstadt and work for money for what I needed. If I refused, they would kill me, not for being a non magical, but for witch hunting. Thinking the deal was too good to be true, I accepted the deal and became a shoemaker, like my father, in Weissstadt."

"I was always suspicious of my fellow townsfolk and tried to avoid contact with everyone, but crowds of giggling girls, who had never seen someone move to Weissstadt before, found me wherever I hid. The mayor's youngest daughter, Maddie, was especially fascinated by me."

"Truthfully, Maddie was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. If she hadn't been a witch, I might've been interested in her. The longer I tried to shut myself away from the other residents of Weissstadt, the lonelier I became, even when I was not alone. I started to accept, and even welcome Maddie's presence."

"She taught me about the history of Weissstadt, and of the beliefs of the Weissvolk who lived there. She taught me how the Weissvolk had broken away from mainstream magical society when they challenged the practices that non magicals feared witches and wizards for. She showed me the beautiful side of magic – the side the Weissvolk still embraced – used for healing, obtaining necessary supplies, giving relief, and creating a better life for everyone."

"Soon after, I stopped being so suspicious of the Weissvolk, and I began to accept magic too. Maddie became more and more beautiful to me, and eventually, I asked for her hand in marriage."

"The mayor was getting old and knew that he would die within a few years. He was looking for husbands for his daughters so they would be taken care after he was gone. I had changed from the penniless witch hunter I once was, and the mayor knew I would take good care of his daughter. He allowed me and Maddie to get married."

"I thought that the day I married my darling sweetheart was the happiest day of my life, but before long, a tiny daughter was born to us. We named her Jasmine. I knew that Jasmine would probably turn out to be a witch, but that didn't worry me like it would've when I left my hometown. I wanted my daughter to be a witch if she was going to be raised in Weissstadt."

"Sure enough, when you, our second child, were on the way, Jazz showed signs of magic. We had a little party to celebrate. Our little girl was a witch!"

"It seemed like hardly any time had passed at all when you born. You developed your powers unusual early – at only two months old! Children who showed signs of magic so early normally grew up to be powerful mages, so Maddie and I were justly proud of you."

"But then, Black Witches and Wizards found Weissstadt, despite the protective spells on the town. Their leaders began raiding the town. Several families disappeared. There was a lot of fear among us once they'd found Weissstadt."

"The Weissvolk had some serious meetings to find a way to end the raids. They were trying to develop stronger magical defenses on the town. They had almost found a solution when the raiders came to town once again."

"They entered our home. One of them, who identified himself as Vlad Dunkel . . . "

"You know Master Dunkel?" Daniel interrupted.

"I know he's one of the lowlife that hurt our family," Jack said.

"No wonder why he gives me the creeps," said Daniel. "So what exactly did he do?"

"I was getting there. Vlad Dunkel has a magic sense. He got pretty excited when he felt how much magic you already had as a little baby. While the others were taking me and Maddie down, he assessed you kids. He did a few tests and concluded that you had a magic sense. He said it was times like that when he himself really loved having a magic sense."

"Vlad Dunkel said he had his own son, and didn't want to deal with giving you your basic training, but that he'd like to train you himself when you were old enough. He said he knew of a nearby witch who could take an apprentice or two. He'd let her give you your basic training, and when you were older, he'd check on your progress until you were ready to be trained by him."

"Meanwhile, the others, perhaps thinking to scare us, told us that you were going to need wands, and that we would do nicely. I'm afraid I can't tell you anything beyond that. We both already know that they did turn your mother and I into your wands."

By the end of his father's story, Daniel's stomach was turning, and he was feeling pretty disgusted with the warlocks he'd grown up being taught to respect. Just from hearing about it, he almost missed Weissstadt too. He would've been so much happier if Master Dunkel and the others hadn't taken them during a raid. "I wish I could've grown up there instead of with Mistress Schwartzekatze," he said.

"I wish you could've too," said Jack. "It really hurts to know that you and your sister are being taught that you must live their way or you'll be punished. But Danny, I'm so proud of you for doing what few others dare to do – doing what feels like the right thing even with the threat of social rejection and punishment hanging over you. You've done well my son, and I'm looking forward to our family living in Weissstadt again."

Daniel smiled when his dad told him that, but their reunion was ruined way too soon for Daniel's liking. He and his dad heard some unwelcome crunching noises, and they seemed to be coming closer. They couldn't stick around any longer!


	10. Melanie's Discovery

**Happy (late) Birthday America!**

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Melanie's Discovery

The part of the story Jack couldn't tell Daniel was how the Black Witches and Wizards found out how to get into Weissstadt. It started when a young witch went exploring in the woods. . .

Young Melanie Schwartzekatze had finished her lessons early and was sent to start on her mother's chores. Soon, Melanie would be old enough to move out and start her personal contributions to their magical society, so her mother wanted to make sure her daughter knew how to do things on her own. Melanie had been doing a lot of chores on her own lately, and her mother was expecting her daughter to be able to do her calling well.

Melanie's calling was that which her family had done for many generations – to raise young witches and warlocks in their ways and to teach them the basics of magic. Though Melanie was not interested in getting married and having her own children, there were always some magical children born in the non magical towns. Sons and daughters of non magicals were always harder to raise properly, but Melanie's mother was confident that her daughter was up for any challenge presented with raising and training children the proper way.

Melanie was eager to do her family proud. After all, her parents had never hid anything from her nor were they neglectful of obtaining for her what she needed to succeed in the calling some long-dead magical leaders required every member of their family to become. She knew they hoped to raise her status from a lower-class witch in some way, but there just wasn't much room for social mobility for anyone. Knowing this, she was willing to take in children and train them to live their way and live up to the humble amount of honor the Schwartzekatze family had as children's teachers.

She was in the woods looking for various plants that were best when picked the day of the new moon when she noticed something strange. Melanie Schwartzekatze had gone deeper into the woods than she usually went to pick plants because there were non magicals out celebrating a local holiday by hunting game and she wanted to be far enough in the forest to avoid encountering an outnumbering force of armed non magicals. She'd found some of the plants she was looking for near the river, but their supply of leaves was already harvested by someone else!

She looked around and saw some fresh muddy footprints leading toward the river. Curious, she followed the footprints until they reached a bridge. She started to cross the bridge, but halfway across she was repelled by an invisible magical shield and couldn't continue to follow the footprints. Melanie Schwartzekatze ran home to her mother and father and told them what had happened.

Melanie's father went to their magical leaders, and they came back to the Schwartzekatze's family hut. Master Dunkel, the master of the mages with magic senses, Master Verzweiflung, the master of the mages with the ability to detect and identify enchantments, and Master Tod, the master of the mages in their magical military came.

They insisted that the only explanation would be a non magical town hidden on the other side of the river, protected by a particularly powerful phantom, or by a senile warlock that Nature was taking her time to deal with. They commanded Melanie to show them the way to the bridge with the magical enchantments.

Before they left, Melanie's mother took Master Dunkel aside and told him that her daughter was ready to become a raiser and trainer, and that Melanie was good enough for any challenge. She begged Master Dunkel that if any young magical children were found, to allow her daughter the honor of raising them. Master Dunkel frowned, and said that he needed more proof that Melanie would do well raising difficult children. He said that any children they could take from where they were going would be bound to be more challenging than the children of average non magicals, and that even the best teachers would need help during the children's teenage years.

Melanie's mother showed Master Dunkel Melanie's schoolwork and chore work. Master Dunkel's face remained nonchalant, but he said Melanie would be a good enough teacher for one or two children they could take from whatever lay beyond the bridge. He said that he would consider Melanie's mother's request only because Melanie was the one who had discovered the footprints and the enchantment on the bridge.

Melanie's mother suspected that Master Dunkel knew more about where he was going than he was letting on, but she didn't ask about it. If three leaders of their community were going and not saying anything about it, than it must be both dangerous to go and too secret to know. She realized if she asked, she would not only bring potent punishment upon herself, but the shame that would come to the Schwartzekatze name would make her petition for her daughter useless.

On the hike through the woods, Master Dunkel tested Melanie's loyalty to their society. He needed to ensure that she was trustworthy enough to be told a secret about the children. Letting the children's teachers in on the secret would be vital to their success in raising them, and it was best not to let just anyone know what lay beyond the river.

Melanie Schwartzekatze proved herself to be one of the most loyal young witches any of the masters had ever met. Be that as it may, they weren't keen on letting anyone in on the secret of the Weissvolk unless they had a need to know. Master Dunkel had made up his mind about telling that loyal young sorceress. She would have a need to know when they snagged a child or two from this particular town of the Weissvolk's. With someone to check on her progress when the young children were in their most resistant teenage years, she was capable of raising some powerful children from the town.

When they reached the bridge, Melanie was ordered to stay behind while the masters went on ahead. The masters went to the bridge, and prepared to take down the magical shield cutting the Weissvolk off from the rest of the magical world. Master Verzweiflung said the shield was strong, and it would take the combined efforts of all the masters to remove the enchantment. The masters combined their efforts and took down the shield. Master Tod used his military tracking skills to locate the then days-old path, and the three masters arrived at Weissstadt shortly.

That was when the raids began. The raids were moderately successful. The masters captured Weissvolk, non magicals living in town, and several families, who were swiftly dealt with by Master Tod. Things got harder as the Weissvolk grew more cautious began to increase security on homes, but they could still capture some of the town's residents. Master Verzweiflung could identify the enchantments, but many times the houses were protected with more than just enchantments. The masters knew that sometime soon the Weissvolk would come up with some security measures that would protect the entire town, even from them, and the raids would be forced to end.

On the last raid that would be possible for the three masters, Master Verzweiflung ended the spells giving protection to one of the homes. Master Dunkel could sense three warlocks inside – two moderately powerful warlocks, and one weaker warlock - so he reasoned that one of the warlocks must be a child. If the child was young enough, unlike the other children they'd captured on the raids, then he knew exactly what he'd do with it. The three masters entered the undefended home and caught the Fentons by surprise.

There weren't three occupants as Master Dunkel had expected. Instead, there was a mother, (a witch,) a father, (a non magical,) and two children (warlocks). If the father wasn't a warlock, then one of the small children must be very powerful. "Tod, Verzweiflung," Master Dunkel said, "I, Vlad Dunkel, can sense some great magical potential here. The children are young. We'll raise them in our ways. Get the parents."

"Who put you in charge?" asked Master Verzweiflung.

"Shut it, Verzweiflung," said Master Tod. "Warlocks of our type are becoming rarer with our slipping control over the magical populace. We're doing all we can to keep people in the dark about whiter lifestyles for warlocks, but I fear we need to do more. If there is great magical potential here, we could use another powerful warlock or two to keep the rest of the magical world under our thumbs. It would be much more advantageous for us to raise these children in our society. Dunkel is correct in what we should do."

"Okay, I get the point," said Master Verzweiflung. "You'd better test these children's powers thoroughly Dunkel. We'd like to know just what we're bringing back with us."

Master Tod grinned. "Hear that, Weissvolk? We're going to take your children and raise them to be like us, and we're going to use you as their wands! Wish you hadn't turned your backs on our way of life now?"

Master Dunkel knelt down and started talking to the first little kid in the house. "What's your name, little girl?" he asked. He drew his wand, recited a few spells, and focused on her magic to see exactly how strong its potential was, and to see if she had any specialty magic.

"I'm Jasmine, and you should leave my parents alone!" she shouted.

Master Dunkel laughed. Jasmine was not the powerful one, but even if she had been, she wasn't trained well enough to take down three master wizards and save her parents. With time and training, perhaps she could change her mind about her wanting to save her parents.

Master Dunkel went and picked up Jasmine's little sibling. He was only an infant, but he was already quite powerful. "Aren't you the powerful one?" he asked, wearing a twisted smile.

"NO, DANIEL!" the mother screamed. "GET AWAY FROM MY BABY!" She was trying to get to her son, but Master Tod had grabbed her arms and was busy trying to wrestle her wand out of her hand.

One of the tests Master Dunkel did on the child turned up positive. "It seems Daniel here possesses a magic sense," he reported.

"Powerful, and has a magic sense. Are you going to skip giving him to someone to train him in the basics and raise him yourself?" Master Verzweiflung asked.

Daniel's mother got away from Master Tod and made a dash for her baby. Some quick action from Master Verzweiflung changed her into a wand for one of the children before she could reach Daniel and Master Dunkel.

"Maddie!" her husband mourned. "What have you done, you monsters?"

The masters laughed for a second, enjoying the pain his wife's transformation was obviously causing him.

"I don't want to give him the basic training," Master Dunkel said about Daniel. "I have to train my own son, who has barely any magic and only a magic sense to raise him from absolute lameness. I'd send him away to be trained by a real trainer, but it wouldn't take a whole month to finish training him to his potential skill. Why would I want to give someone else's brat the basic training on top of my son's when a witch with a calling to raise young warlocks would do much better? I know of a witch not far from here that might be up for the challenge of raising this one. When he gets older, I'll check on his progress, and I'll take him when his basic training is complete."

Bored with the show the father was creating, Master Tod turned him into a wand. Master Tod gathered the wands, and Masters Verzweiflung and Dunkel carried out the children.

Ignoring Jasmine's tears, Master Dunkel explained to his colleagues about Melanie Schwartzekatze, who was supposed to be one of the best, and had already proved herself trustworthy enough to keep what really happened to the Weissvolk a secret. They would tell her what each of the Fentons were, and she would raise them. Hopefully, she could quash the children's dreadful heritage out of them.


	11. The Phantom in the Mirror

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The Phantom in the Mirror

"We were under the impression you were recovering from being hit in the head," said Mistress Schwartzekatze, making Daniel inwardly flinch. It did look suspicious that he had been out in the woods, by where he'd rescued Sam, when he was supposed to be resting. Luckily, he already had his excuse as to why he wasn't in the hut recovering from his injury.

"I couldn't do that with a phantom in the hut, could I?" he asked. "I'm absolutely certain there's a phantom here this time. See, it overturned the furniture, and just look at what it did to your normally precisely organized potion ingredients!"

Mistress Schwartzekatze frowned. "This phantom, did you happen to see it?"

"Oh yes. He had white hair, and the most mischievous green eyes!" Danny lied. He thought he'd have to remember that, so he tried to picture a face like he'd just described in his mind. He used his face as a model and created a believable phantom's face. He wouldn't make a bad-looking phantom if he really was a phantom with white hair and green eyes.

Mistress Schwartzekatze's frown deepened. "We'll have to put Blood Blossoms out first thing tomorrow morning then, won't we? But now, we must all get some rest."

When Daniel heard Mistress Schwartzekatze's shriek as she entered her room and discovered the snake skin, he secretly grinned to himself. He then played his role as a phantom for the night by taking a couple vials of potion ingredients and dumping them out on the floor. He took Mistress Schwartzekatze's black cauldron, rolled it out the door. This phantom thing was so much fun!

Daniel went to his room, where he had piece of metal enchanted to act like a mirror hanging on one wall, to go to bed. That night, he happened to catch a glimpse of his reflection and what he saw gave him a scare.

He knew his hair was black and his eyes were blue. They'd always been that way. But just looking at his reflection then, his eyes were an intense green, with a mischievous glint in them. His hair was white, and had a sharp contrast with his still-black eyebrows. It was exactly how he'd created the face of the phantom he'd described to Mistress Schwartzekatze! What had happened to his real face?

Daniel, having been taught about what phantoms did, but not much else about them, panicked. He could not see that on the outside he still had black hair and blue eyes. He could only see what he saw reflected back at him. He stifled a scream, knowing that a scream would attract attention and get him discovered much faster.

In a stupor from shock, Daniel's legs carried him to his bed, where he quickly collapsed into sleep.

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Daniel pulled the blankets over his head and groaned in response to someone's gentle prodding. "Go away! I'm trying to sleep." he said.

"Daniel, you'd better get up, or Mistress Schwartzekatze will be furious. We've got our big test on forest life identification, and its uses in potion making today, remember?" Jasmine responded.

"'Kay, I'll get up, just give me some privacy."

"Daniel, if I leave you alone, you'll just go back to sleep," said Jasmine. "Get up before I have to pull off the blankets and pull you out of bed!"

Even with Daniel's groggy mind, he still remembered what he'd seen in the mirror the night before. Well okay, actually, his reflection had haunted his dreams all night. He couldn't let Jasmine see him with him looking like the phantom he'd described.

"You really have to get up, Daniel!" said Jasmine. "We don't have much time for the test today as we were going to because we've got to collect Blood Blossoms to ward off that phantom!"

Daniel felt sick to his stomach knowing he was the phantom they wanted to ward off. Would the flowers work on him? They'd never had any affect on him before, but his reflection had never shown him as a phantom before either. Daniel knew his mistress and his sister weren't intentionally trying to hurt him, yet, but he was pretty sure that at least his mistress would try to kill him if she knew he was the one who had done the work of a phantom.

Jasmine pulled the blankets off from over Daniel's head, and he momentarily panicked. He froze where he was, heart racing and muscles tensing. "I – I . . ." he stuttered. He wondered what he could possibly tell his sister about the sudden change upon him that had NOT turned him into a phantom the night before. But how could he possibly fool her? He wasn't a good enough liar to lie his way out of this.

Unexpectedly, Jasmine didn't act like she noticed anything unusual about her brother's appearance. "Get up, get ready, and for your own sake, Daniel, HURRY!"

"Jasmine?" Daniel asked. "Don't I look different to you?"

"You look the same as always, just get up!"

Puzzled, Daniel got out of his bed to look at his reflection. Had he really seen himself as a phantom, or was that all just a scare he'd received from being so tired the night before? A look in the enchanted metal showed him the same thing he'd seen the night before. He had white hair and green eyes, but why didn't Jasmine see it?

Jasmine joined him in looking at the reflection. "What are you looking for?" she asked. When he didn't respond, she said, "If this is about puberty, it'll come, just be patient."

After Jasmine walked out of the room to let him get dressed, something really strange happened to Daniel. It was weird enough that his reflection would show up as a phantom, but it was even weirder when his body started acting like a phantom. His body displayed powers like that only a phantom would have.

He was reaching for his robe to put it on, but his hand went right through it! He'd really been scared when his sister had removed the blankets from over his head, but he'd calmed down when she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Now he was scared again. Intangibility was a phantom's power!

He felt faint when he realized that he couldn't deny what he'd become to himself anymore. "I really am a phantom," he whispered. He hated to admit it, but he had, somehow, become a phantom.


	12. The Picking Party

**Okay, I know Jack's been acting OOC, (as in, not obsessive, more able to notice details...) but that's because I think he'd be a little different after he's stopped hunting, and started living peacefully with, the things he'd formerly tried to destroy**. **I just thought I'd clarify why ... *covers mouth* ... Oh, I'd better not tell you yet! You'll see what I'm talking about in the chapter. Enjoy!**

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The Picking Party

Daniel thought the test went okay. Sure, he had been a little distracted about his new reflection, his randomly phasing through plants, and the strange looks that Mistress Schwartzekatze kept giving him throughout the test, but he did know which plants were which. Hopefully, he did a good enough job at hiding his new phantom stuff during the test that Mistress Schwartzekatze didn't know what he was. All things considered, the test could've gone much worse.

He was really worried about what was going to happen to him again when the test was over and they went to pick Blood Blossoms. "Great," he whispered to himself. "Here I am - going to pick the one herb I know I've got to avoid." Luckily no one heard him. He didn't really want to think about how the Blood Blossoms could harm him or get him exposed.

Someone was bound to notice that something was up while they were picking Blood Blossoms. After all, they did have some obviously harmful effect on phantoms - that was the whole point of picking them! He could pick them and hope that he survived and that no one noticed the spectacle he was sure to make of himself over the pain, or he could refuse and have them wonder why he was suddenly opposed to picking the herbs.

They arrived at the spot in a clearing where Blood Blossoms grew wild and Daniel felt a little dizzy and sick because of the aroma coming off the flowers. He stood there for a moment trying to suppress the mild headache the smell gave him.

"Daniel!" Mistress Schwartzekatze called, noticing that he hadn't picked anything yet, "Get to work _NOW_ or else!"

This was it. It was all over. Daniel had hoped the strange looks she'd given him during his test weren't because she'd noticed that he was going right through some of the plants, but even if they weren't, she was pretty much guaranteed to notice this. He was done for.

"Oh, sorry!" Daniel called, trying to stall. "I was just wondering how we were going to keep the phantom away when these stop blooming."

"I will handle that, now get to work!"

Maybe if he kept up the illusion that everything was normal and that he was still a just a warlock, she'd dismiss what she'd seen during the test as a trick of her eyes.

He sent a phony grin his mistress' way, and bent down as if to pick the flowers. Seeing that Mistress Schwartzekatze was still watching him, he reached out and grabbed the stem of one of the plants. While Mistress Schwartzekatze looked, satisfied, back to her own work, Daniel stifled the urge to cry out in pain and quickly let go of the stem.

His eyes filled with tears he refused to shed and his palm, burning, turned red. Blood Blossoms did definitely work on him, as on any other phantom. He couldn't pick them, and he was sure he couldn't get into the hut with it full of those plants!

Daniel watched in amazement as the burn slowly faded away to nothing. Weren't Blood Blossoms supposed to do a lot more to phantoms? Daniel closed his eyes as he tried to remember his lessons and find answers on his new life as a phantom – and on how to avoid the Blood Blossoms.

Blood Blossoms, while sometimes used to decorate for festive occasions, were mainly used as a natural repellent for phantoms. The only known herb to keep phantoms away, the mere scent was uncomfortable to a phantom. If a phantom touched any part of the plant, they got burned. If a phantom was surrounded by a circle of the blossoms, they were killed. Blood Blossoms were excellent at fending off phantoms.

Yet, Mistress Schwartzekatze told them that it wasn't enough to scare off a phantom with the pain a Blood Blossom caused. Phantoms healed quickly from minor injuries and would come back to cause more havoc. It was best for witches and wizards to destroy a phantom quickly to end their interfering with their magic and to prevent them from getting more powerful over time. Simply hurting that enemy of warlocks would never do.

So Daniel concluded that he had already healed because he was a phantom, but that still left him a problem. It was only a matter of time before someone was absolutely certain of what he was and tried to destroy him. He could pretend that he was still one of them, but it would be tough to keep up his façade with so many Blood Blossoms around and his powers acting up. How was he supposed to come out this dilemma alive?

Maybe the best thing to do would be to get out of there before anyone got a chance to kill him. He looked over at Mistress Schwartzekatze and his sister. If he could run off without them noticing, he'd have time to grab his stuff from the hut, maybe leave the place a wreck, and run to the stream where, hopefully, he could meet his father.

It seemed luck was on his side that day. He crept off without attracting attention, and went back to the hut. Arriving at the hut, Daniel mentally berated himself for not planning what he needed to take before getting there. He hated to admit it, but some of Mistress Schwartzekatze's books – A Complete Guide to Magical Equipment in particular – came in awfully handy. Daniel quickly figured on taking that book, his basic stuff, his spare set of robes, and some food. If his luck kept up, he'd have time to grab what he needed and get away with it on his broomstick.

He dumped the stuff into Mistress Schwartzekatze's cauldron, not bothering to clean up after himself when he bumped a jar off the shelf, and it shattered, contents scattering across the floor. He grabbed his broom from the closet, makings sure to give Mistress Schwartzekatze's broom a good kick, before hopping on his broomstick with the cauldron in tow.

The ride to the stream took a while for a destination not so far away. What slowed Daniel down the most must've been that he had to keep to the woods to avoid being spotted by the non magicals (he didn't think scaring them and having them point after him would help him escape), but being a beginner, and having to dodge all the obstacles he encountered didn't exactly help either. It was about after the late time of day he'd met his father for the first time since infancy when he arrived.

His father was there, looking around for clues as to where his son might've gone after they were interrupted. Daniel, seeing him called, "Vater!"

Jack stopped. "Danny?" He looked around for his son. Daniel landed in front of his old man. "Danny? What is all this stuff?"

"Dad, I've decided to turn away from the lies I've been taught and come live with you! I think it's time I lived with you in Weissstadt again, and get away from my evil former mistress."

"Of course you can come live in Weissstadt!" said Jack. "I'm glad you're coming home. It's this way."

On the way to Weissstadt, Jack and Daniel spoke some more about what was going on.

"So what did your former mistress do?"

Daniel shook his head. "It's nothing she did, it's me. I – I- . . . How do I say this?"

"You've become something she wants to destroy, haven't you?"

"Yeah," said Daniel, surprised his dad would figure it out that quickly. "You know what I am?"

Jack smiled at his son. "It's hard to break away from that kind of life without becoming a phantom. When you didn't bring it up last night, I thought you didn't want to talk about it yet."

"I didn't know when I was talking to you last night," Daniel admitted blushing. He hung his head. "It took me until I kept phasing through things this morning to figure it out. Anyway, I thought phantoms were the natural enemies of warlocks, so anyone associated with warlocks would also want to kill me."

"Phantoms are only enemies to those warlocks like your former mistress. Don't take what she's doing personally, Danny. Black Witches like her want to harm anyone that doesn't agree that their way of life isn't superior to all other ways of life."

"I don't care what she thinks anymore," Daniel replied. "I'm done having anything to do with her!"

"Good!" said Jack. "What does Jazz think about all this?"

"I'm not sure if she knows what I am or not, but Frau Schwartzekatze doesn't suspect her of anything. She's still safe."

Jack's face was unreadable as he nodded his understanding. "We've got to go back for her and your mom at some point, but we'll have to do that carefully. Right now, we've got to return to Weissstadt. Once we're there, we can get you settled in and plan how we're going to rescue the others. Weissstadt is not that far from here."


	13. The Invisible Women

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

The Invisible Women

According to Jack, Weissstadt was a secret little town a few miles from Bachplatzberg. It took a hike through the forest before crossing a bridge. There was an enchantment to try and keep Black Witches and Black Wizards from crossing the river and invading Weissstadt.

The way was hard for Danny to distinguish, as it people didn't seem to travel that way often. There was no road, and no markings to show the way, but Jack knew how to get there. Danny stuck close to his dad, feeling no desire to get lost in the woods.

Jack spent the trip telling Daniel about how few non magical folks knew about Weissstadt, but way too may of the Black Witches and Wizards did. He mentioned that in the one day he'd been back, the town seemed to have gotten much better protections against Black Warlocks and raids.

But before they could get to the bridge, they heard an evil crackling ahead of them. "What's that?" Jack asked. "Danny, do you think they might know you were running off to Weissstadt?"

Daniel was tense. He whispered, "It's Frau Schwartzekatze – I don't know how she found us. I wasn't aware that she knew I knew about the Weissvolk living around here." His face was very pale, and fight-or-flight was kicking in. "We've got to get out of here."

Frau Schwartzekatze ended the invisibility charm she'd cast to wait in ambush for them. Jasmine also stood there, tears streaming down her cheeks. Clearly, this was going to be a very upsetting encounter.

"Jazz?" Jack asked, with a cautious smile. "Look at you, how you've grown! If it weren't for Danny's help, I wouldn't recognize you! What's wrong, sweetheart? Is there anything your old man can do to help?"

"What's going on Mistress Schwartzekatze?" Jasmine asked. "Who's he?"

Daniel grinned. "This is Dad," he explained. "He married Mom, knowing perfectly well she's a witch, and he's here for us too!"

"He lies, Jasmine," said Frau Schwartzekatze. "I hate to break it to you, but your brother's beliefs in the ideas of the Weissvolk weakened him enough that a young phantom could kill him. He may look the same as the brother you've always known, but that is only an illusion. That is not your brother. That's the phantom that's been interfering in our hut and who killed your brother to take his form so he could try to fool us. The man that's with him is also a phantom."

Daniel couldn't suppress an angry reaction as he heard Frau Schwartzekatze's lie to his sister. How dare she tell her that he wasn't her brother!

"It's true!" Jasmine concluded at his reaction. Tears flowed more rapidly from her eyes. "You are a phantom!"

"Jasmine!" said Daniel, sad to see her so upset. "Listen to me," he pointed at Frau Schwartzekatze, "She's been lying to us for years, and she's lying about me now! I _am_ Daniel and I know what she teaches is wrong. Dad and I can help you get away from her," he said, though he didn't see how they could, "and then you and me and Mom and Dad can be a family again."

"Jazz," said Jack. "We love you. Please come with us."

"Jasmine, they're trying to trick you," Frau Schwartzekatze calmly insisted. "You remember what you studied about phantoms, don't you?"

Jasmine nodded.

"Then we've got to exterminate these ones before it's too late. Do you have the Blood Blossoms?"

Jasmine nodded again, and pulled a large bouquet out from behind her back.

"No!" Daniel shouted. "Don't do it!" But Frau Schwartzekatze had already snatched the plants from Jasmine's hands and with a magical toss they formed a circle around the young phantom and his dad. Avoiding a deadly circle was no possible for Daniel.

"Let this be a lesson to all present!" Frau Schwartzekatze shouted. Hiding the flick of her wand from Jasmine, she performed a spell that caused a brief but intense sensation of physical pain for Jack. It looked like what a phantom would endure in a circle of Blood Blossoms.

"Come with me Jasmine," she said. "I know this is a very disturbing night, but we can get perspective on things back home over a potion that calms the nerves. We may have lost your brother tonight, but we can gain some comfort in the fact that no more phantoms will be around to hurt you. From now on, we'll always keep Blood Blossoms in our home." The Black Witch grabbed Jasmine's arm, and they disappeared the way the Dunkels had done.

Daniel was helpless. Circles of Blood Blossoms were fatal to phantoms. He was trapped within the circle of his doom, withering in pain.

"Danny!" cried Jack, "Hold on, there's still be a way to save you!"

Jack grabbed the nearest blossoms and put them in his mouth. It didn't taste bad at all! He ate the circle as quickly as he could, hoping he'd be fast enough to save his son.

When he was finished, he examined his son. Daniel lay facedown on the ground, unconscious and weakened, but still alive. His breath came in gasps and it looked like it was going to take a while for him to recover, phantom or not. He was relieved because Daniel still had the thing most important to Jack for his son to have at that moment – life.

Jack picked Daniel up to carry him the rest of the way to Weissstadt. Once they arrived, he knew someone he could convince to help speed up his son's recovery.

"You are so lucky someone was there to save you so soon after that witch tried to kill you," Jack said to his unconscious son. "And we're both lucky most Black Witches and Wizards don't know there's a way to save phantoms once they've been enclosed in a circle of Blood Blossoms. Danny, you're going to be fine."

Jack walked the rest of the way to Weissstadt.


	14. The Beauty of the Brook

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The Beauty of the Brook

Daniel lay by the fire inside the Fenton's small home. He was just starting to wake up after he'd gained some of the strength the Blood Blossoms had taken from him.

"See, I told you he'd be fine!" said Jack excitedly.

Still groggy and dizzy, it took Daniel a moment to recognize his dad's voice. "Dad?" he croaked.

"How are you feeling son? Those Blood Blossoms almost killed you!"

"I'm still alive?" he asked amazed. The idea didn't seem plausible to him – Blood Blossoms were one hundred percent fatal to phantoms. Yet, he felt too tired and weak to be dead.

Daniel tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but a woman's hand held him down. Daniel could sense magic in the woman – she was definitely a witch – but her magic felt different than any magic he'd sensed before. It was much warmer and gentler than any he'd encountered.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be doing that yet," she said firmly. "I've got to take my hand off to stir this tonic for you, and I don't want to catch you getting up when I do."

"Of course you're alive son!" Jack said. "Phantoms can survive a circle of Blood Blossoms if they've got someone to get rid of the herbs. We're just lucky your former mistress didn't know anything about this – otherwise she would've prevented their removal. But then again, Black Witches like her rarely know about ways to save phantoms. Why would they save anyone who's not like them?"

"Jack Fenton, could you make yourself useful for once in your life and hand me that can of powered salamander tail?" the witch snapped.

Jack obliged the witch, but wrinkled his nose in disgust at the salamander tail. "Yuck!" he whispered to Daniel, "I don't envy you your sleep potion!"

"I heard that!" the witch spat. "My potions don't taste that bad, Jack Fenton!"

Jack rolled his eyes when the witch wasn't looking. "Anyhow," he said, "Danny, this is your Aunt Alicia! Her concotions may taste nasty, but she makes the most effective potions and tonics in Weissstadt."

"Now what did I just say about my potions?"

Daniel grinned. "We're here?" he asked happily. He sat up to greet his aunt face-to-face. "Hi Aunt Alicia!"

"I told you it's not a good idea for you to get up yet," she said. "Jack Fenton, could you get your son to lie back down?"

"Sorry," Daniel said, lying back down.

"So this is my nephew!" his aunt said. "He went and got himself turned into a phantom, then he went and got himself trapped inside a circle of Blood Blossoms, and now he won't even listen about having to rest up!" she said. "And where is my sister? How come no one's telling me that?"

"Alicia! We're working on it! Don't you think I want my wife back just as much as you want your sister back? I'll tell you where she is later later. Danny's had a tough day and needs his rest, so we shouldn't have that difficult discussion in front of him."

Daniel felt good when his dad stood up for him and what he needed. It was the sort of parental thing he'd been craving all his life with Frau Schwartzekatze. She never would've stood up for him like that. It just went to show the strong contrast between how horrible a guardian she was, and how much better his dad was than her.

Jack's comment managed to end Alicia's complaints. It was with a much gentler tone that she told Daniel to drink his potion. She handed him a cup of a silvery-looking substance that flowed in a lazy circle. She instructed him,"Drink up now, you hear?"

Daniel found that the potion didn't taste good, but it didn't taste bad either as far as potions went. He felt comfortably warm inside, and his eyelids were drooping. His aunt's high-quality potion was working fast.

As he drifted off, he heard his dad whisper, "Sleep well, son. You could use a good rest to regain your strength."

He was sitting by the brook where he'd met Sam, and where he'd gotten his dad back. The stream whispered happily as it bubbled past, accompanied by choruses of a variety of bird species. The sunlight was filtered through the trees' leaves, blanketing everything in a soft green light. The spot was absolutely wonderful to him, totally relaxing.

"Hey, Daniel," someone whispered, softly sitting down next to him. Daniel's heart hummed happily, and he felt light enough that he could float as he recognized Sam's voice.

She wore a peaceful smile, and looked as beautiful as he remembered her. "Sam," he said, returning her smile. "You look wonderful." She blushed at the compliment.

Then Daniel's heart sank as he remembered the last time he'd seen Sam. "I'm glad you're okay," he whispered, "and I'm sorry about what my mistress did to your parents. It wasn't my idea Sam - it was hers."

"But you changed them back, didn't you?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah," said Daniel, and something within him swelled with joy. Sam had forgiven him! It was like a dream come true!

A dream come true? This scene was too good to be true. It must've been only a dream, but he wished it could be so much more.

But because he'd moved to Weissstadt, where non magicals were viewed as equals, maybe one day he could make it up to her and they could be friends. Maybe they could be more than friends. Daniel wanted that dearly.

The future seeming distant to him, Daniel decided he might as well enjoy the dream while it lasted. "Sam?" he asked. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes Daniel?"

"If I said I want to get to know you better, what would you say?"

Dream Sam smiled at him. "I'd love to get to know you too," she said. She took his right hand in between her own two hands. "You strike me as someone special."

It was a very blissful dream...


	15. First Friends

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First Friends

Daniel had dreamed a wonderful Sam-filled dream, but he wasn't asleep anymore. He got up feeling much better than he had since he and his dad had been ambushed. In fact, he felt as if he'd never encountered Blood Blossoms at all. His strength was renewed from the good rest he'd gotten.

He went over to the water basin - where he saw that his reflection was still that of the phantom he'd described to Frau Schwartzekatze mere days before. What was with that? He thought A Complete Guide to Magical Creatures and Beings might have an answer, but if Frau Schwartzekatze hadn't known he could survive a circle of Blood Blossoms, maybe it wasn't as complete as it claimed to be. Besides, he'd left it in Frau Schwartzekatze's cauldron and he didn't know what had happened to it after he'd blacked out. He didn't think he could find out why he still looked different to himself whenever he saw his reflection.

Daniel shivered. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt cold. As he rinsed his hands in the water, ice started spreading from the tips of his fingers.

"Oh great, not another out-of-control power," he groaned. "Dad? Aunt Alicia? Hello? Anyone home?"

He checked the few rooms in the Fentons' home, stirring up enough dust to make himself cough. He was alone. He still ran about looking for any clue as to where they might have gone. He needed help getting his powers under control, but he couldn't find anyone in the house.

His search finally ended when he tripped over a cauldron. "Huh?" he asked. "Frau Schwartzekatze didn't return for the stuff I stole? Did Dad bring this here?"

The cauldron had none of the stuff he'd taken in it. On closer inspection he found it wasn't the same cauldron at all. "Oh that's right, Mom's a witch!" he said. "This must be her cauldron!" A thrill ran through him as he'd realized the cauldron belonged to the mother he didn't know.

Daniel, looking more carefully around the house, found artifacts of the life he would've lived in Weissstadt. Unfinished shoes, and baby stuff like cradles and dolls, were laying on the floor. Daniel looked around to see what else he could find. He found a little blue blanket decorated with stars, a well-loved stuffed bear, and a portrait of his family.

In the portrait, his dad was standing tall, with his arm around a woman that must've been Daniel's mother. His mother held his infant self in her arms, and Jasmine, as a toddler, stood on a stool to be closer to everyone else's height. "Wow," he whispered. He'd never dreamed that he could see his family as they were before he and Jasmine lived with Frau Schwartzekatze. His family looked so happy together!

He stepped closer to admire the portrait, but he tripped over a pile of books on the floor. Trying not to choke on the dust he wiped off of the cover, he took a look at the one of the titles. It was The White Wizard's Guide to Magical Creatures and Beings. He could use some more information about phantoms. How could he deal with his new ice power? What was up with his reflection? How did he become a phantom in the first place? Maybe the book could tell him what he wanted to know.

He started turning the pages to find a chapter on phantoms, but his hands started going right through the pages. He really needed to control his intangibility – in fact; he should probably start with that. This being a phantom thing was pretty tough.

Daniel heard someone coming in the front door, and ran to see who it was.

Jack was home with an armful of wood. He smiled when he saw his son. "Hey Danny! You were shivering in your sleep. We didn't have any more blankets, so I put some more logs on the fire and went to get more firewood. I hope you didn't get too lonely."

Daniel, still shivering, said, "I think this shivering is part of another phantom power. I've got to learn to control these powers as soon as possible, but I have no clue how to do that!" As if to prove his point, icicles started forming on his arms, and Daniel gasped. "This is getting to be a really big problem!"

Jack grabbed one of Daniel's frozen arms. "Come on, we've got to get you to Alicia's! She can help you a lot better than I can."

* * *

Daniel loved Weissstadt.

He had his dad who loved him, and his aunt who was amazing at helping Daniel control his new phantom powers. They weren't cruel like Frau Schwartzekatze had been. Sure they wanted him to learn to use magic and his powers, but they never made him uncomfortable about it. And unlike the Black Warlocks, they didn't think it made him better than others. He was encouraged to let his conscience determine his actions - not the expectations of others - and he was allowed to associate with both warlocks and non magicals.

There were other children his age, both warlocks and non magicals, that he could play with. Sure, he wasn't very popular having been raised in the Black Magic, and with his new phantom powers still slipping out of his control every now and again, but he wasn't lonely and no one seemed to think phantoms were evil. Even with the other children's hesitation in befriending him, he fit in a lot better in Weissstadt than he ever had among Black Warlocks.

As far as phantoms, between his Aunt Alicia and his mom's books, he had the answers to the questions he had about them. He knew how he'd become one. He knew why his reflection was different. He knew his powers would grow for a while because he was still a child. Any question he had about phantoms, he could get an answer to.

The answers? Apparently, a mage with heavy exposure to Black Magic could become a phantom if they: 1.) decided to act like a phantom to Black Warlocks, 2.) thought themselves like one, 3.) decided they were going to rebel against Black Magic, and 4.) did something to help non magicals.

Phantoms could gain another appearance, -a disguise - if they imagined one for themselves. Their reflection would show them alone whichever appearance they weren't using at the time.

Phantoms gained phantom powers anytime between the day of and up to a week after their turning. If a phantom's human body was still developing, like his was, their powers would continue to grow as well.

On one day of his new life, Daniel had grudgingly been accepted into a game of capture the flag. He was walking through the woods on his team's side. He caught a glimpse of a dark-haired girl ahead. Thinking it was one of the Weissstadt girls from the other team, he snuck up behind her, and suddenly ran the last few feet to tag her.

She yelped in surprise and spun around so quickly that Daniel had no chance to hide when he saw who she really was. "Daniel!" she gasped. "Why are you here? What have you come to do this time?"

Sam? She definitely wasn't one of the Weissstadt girls!

"First you save me," she continued, "and then you come to my house to jinx me!"

Daniel was suddenly nervous, because, as she'd pointed out, the last time he'd seen her, Frau Schwartzekatze had taken him to hurt her and her family. He doubted that she knew what he'd done to make amends, like she had in his dream, because he couldn't' think of anyone who would know what he'd done except himself. He couldn't expect her to be as easily forgiving as in his dream a while before.

"H-Hey Sam," he said nervously. "I thought you were someone else."

Sam's eyes narrowed into a glare as Daniel proved slow in saying something else to her. "Look, Sam, I didn't' mean it," he finally said. "I didn't mean to mention you to that witch, Frau Schwartzekatze. She hates non magicals, so she decided to punish us both for interacting by taking me to harm your family."

Sam gave him a very hurt look, and he couldn't blame her. With the deceptive dealing Black Witches and Wizards did toward others, his apology could easily be taken as another trick.

"I'm really sorry about what happened because of me. I did my best to fix it. I snuck out when my former mistress wasn't around. I was the one to change your parents back."

Daniel couldn't tell if she believed him, but he knew he'd better say something else to show his true intentions toward her. "A few night ago," he told her, "I ran away from that witch. I don't want to be evil anymore. I promise I won't be involved in hurting you again. I promise."

Sam's expression clearly showed that she was thinking something over. "I believe you," she whispered. "Spells like that just don't wear off on their own. I don't know of anyone else who might have cast a spell to help my parents."

"Hey Sam," Daniel said. "I hope we can see each other again. My real dad, who is really glad to have me back from the warlocks that kidnapped me when I was baby, would be happy to see me make the first friend I've ever had."

"Really?" Sam asked, curious, "You've never had friends?"

Daniel shook his head. "Mistress Schwartzekatze was furious when she thought I might be making friends with you after I pulled you out of the water. That's why she thought we should curse your family. I _never_ wanted to hurt you."

Sam smiled at him. "Okay," she said. "I'll give you another chance. I've never had friends either – well, not unless you count the snobs my parents invited to our house – but I've never really considered them friends. My parents picked them for me. Maybe we could be friends."

Touched, Daniel smiled back.

"DANIEL!" someone called from a distance. "DANIEL! WHERE'D YOU GET OFF TO?"

"DANNY BOY!" another voice called. "IT'S TIME TO COME HOME!"

"That's my aunt and my dad," Daniel explained. "Do you want to meet them?"

Sam just shrugged. Daniel grinned and called back, "I'm over here!"

Jack and Alicia came. "Who's this?" Jack asked. "Danny, do I have to give you _the talk_?"

Daniel blinked. What talk? What did his dad mean by _the talk_?

Glancing over, Daniel saw Sam blushing for him. "Dad, Aunt Alicia, this is Sam. She lives over in Bachplatzberg. Sam, this is my dad and my Aunt Alicia."

"Hi," Sam said. She was looking at Danny's family curiously – especially Alicia in her coarse White Witch's robes.

Jack grinned. "Well, Sam, it's nice to meet you!"


	16. Running Warlocks

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Running Warlocks

"I'll see you soon," Daniel said to Sam as he left to go home for the night. He couldn't believe it - he had his first real friend!

He walked along the now-familiar way to Weissstadt. He figured there would eventually be more of a trail with his walking back and forth between there and Bachplatzberg. Daniel got stuck as his foot suddenly phased into a log and he couldn't get it out.

But perhaps it was for the best. He heard the snapping of a twig and the murmur of voices ahead of him. He tried to listen harder, but the voices were too low for him to hear.

Quietly, he worked on getting his leg free and crept closer. It turned out there was no need for this, since a second later one of the voice's murmurs turned into shouting.

"YOU LET HIM BECOME ONE OF THEM?"

"I did everything I could to stop him! Do you think I wanted him to turned out that way? It was too late too quickly, and we both know there's no return once one becomes a phantom. I had no choice but to destroy him!"

Daniel recognized the voices – it was Herr Dunkel and Frau Schwartzekatze.

"How quickly?" Herr Dunkel asked.

"I ambushed him on the way to Weissstadt and left him to die among the Blood Blossoms," Frau Schwartzekatze answered.

"YOU IDIOT! SOMEONE COULD'VE RESCUED HIM!"

"_What_ are you talking about?" Frau Schwartzekatze asked. "Once a phantom is trapped in a circle of Blood Blossoms there is no way for them to survive."

"_On their own_ there's no way for them to survive," Herr Dunkel replied. "But he wasn't alone, was he? I thought you were supposed to learn of common dangers from out-of-control children after being let in on the other secret of the Weissvolk's true state of existence."

"Master Dunkel . . . "

"YOUR STUPIDITY HAS BROUGHT MY WRATH UPON YOU! The raid on Weissstadt is delayed until you and your remaining apprentice are both _dead_!"

Daniel heard Frau Schwartzekatze make a faint noise and heard a bit of a struggle going on. He stepped a little closer, but he was to close - Herr Dunkel spoke again. "Someone's here," Dunkel said, "and they're too powerful to be Jasmine. It feels like Daniel – the phantom you failed to destroy!"

Daniel ran as fast as he could. He had to get away from Herr Dunkel, who wanted to to kill him, and reach Weissstadt in time to tell someone about the raid he'd mentioned. They were in trouble, and he had to act quickly.

"Dad! Dad!" Daniel called.

"What is it Danny?"

"I overheard Herr Dunkel and Frau Schwartzekatze having a fight in the woods, and Herr Dunkel said that he's going to kill her and Jasmine, and then there's gonna be a raid on Weissstadt, but then I got too close and his magic sense picked me up and he's after me!" he gasped out.

"WHAT?" Jack grabbed Daniels' arm. "Come on Danny, we've gotta lose Dunkel and save Jazz!"

"Yeah! And Weissstadt?"

"Believe it or not, we knew about the raid that's coming. We've learned from the last set of raids, and the Weissvolk are fully prepared now. They can manage without us, Daniel, in fact, we're the ones most likely to get in the way. Come on, let's go save your sister."

Thinking about it, Daniel decided they probably were the ones most likely to get in the way. With his dad's lack of magic, and his still undependable new powers, they were pretty likely to get in the way.

"Alicia!" Jack called. "Dunkel is on his way here now, looking for Danny! Tell them he's coming!"

Alicia poked her head out the window. "And just where do you think you're going Jack Fenton?"

"It's our last chance to save Maddie and Jazz. We've got to go!"

Jack let go of Daniel's arm. He said, "You're going to have to lead the way to Jazz." After a pause, he added, "I don't suppose you know the teleportation spell yet?"

Daniel shook his head regretfully – it would've made rescuing his sister a lot faster if he had known it. He grabbed his Dad's hand and led the way to Frau Schwartzekatze's hut.

Mistress Schwartzekatze was trying to pack everything from the hut that she could. She knew Master Dunkel well enough that she knew he'd make good on his promise to kill them just after he caught up with Daniel and destroyed the young phantom.

"Jasmine, help me with this!" she croaked. "He'll be back from chasing that non magical boy any minute!"

Jasmine knew her duty, but should she follow her mistress that time? She knew she'd be in trouble for disobeying her mistress, but she also knew that if she didn't leave in time, Master Dunkel would catch her and kill her. Jasmine didn't think they'd be done packing in enough time to escape. Her common sense and self preservation won out over her sense of duty, and she ran from the hut.

Jasmine didn't know where she was going or what punishment Nature had in mind, but she'd take her chances. Intuition told her that death was worse than Nature's punishment for her.

She ran into the woods, where she, literally, ran into Daniel and Jack running toward the hut. Jasmine's eyes went wide seeing the two of them alive in the woods, and she opened her mouth to speak.

"Sorry Jazz, there's no time for questions now. We've got to get you to safety." Jack said.

Jasmine was completely bewildered as Daniel and Jack took her through the woods. How were the phantoms alive after being trapped in the circle of Blood Blossoms? What did they mean when they said they had to get her to safety? Where were they going? She was confused, and scared.

It seemed like an eternity later when they stopped somewhere in the woods. "I think it's safe to stop for explanations," said Jack.

"Good!" said Jasmine. "I want to know why you're doing this! I want to know how you survived! Why would you bother saving a witch like me from Master Dunkel when he'd just do what you want to do to witches yourselves? How are you even here? I saw you being put in the circle of Blood Blossoms myself! Why are you rescuing me? You supposed to _hate_ witches!"

Jasmine wondered how they were going to try and explain that away...


	17. Jasmine's Smoke

**Final Chapter! (Not counting the epilogue...)**

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Jasmine's Smoke

There was an awkward silence after Jasmine accused them of hating her just because she was a witch. They knew she'd been taught that way, but it still hurt to hear her say that.

"But we don't," said Daniel. "It's just Black Magic we have a problem with, not witches, not magic, and certainly not our own family!"

Jack grinned. "Your mother and I were so proud the days each of you got your magic. We were expecting it to happen and we were prepared to give you an education in White Magic."

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked,not really expecting the responses either of the phantoms gave. She looked between the two of them. "You're not my family!"

"Yes, we are," Jack said. "I'm your dad, and, despite what that Black Witch said, this is your brother."

"Okay, playing along with your little game for the moment," Jasmine said. She didn't really believe them, but she had a feeling that the longer she kept them talking, the longer she'd live. She asked, "Wouldn't you and mom hate us because of our magic? You're non magicals!" She blinked, processing a detail she'd nearly missed. "And how on earth would you be _expecting_ us to have magic?"

"You remember how I said last time we saw each other that Frau Schwartzekatze lied to us?" Daniel asked.

"It's _Mistres_s Schwartzekatze!" Jasmine corrected.

"She's not our mistress anymore," Daniel argued. "Anyway, that's beside the point. Do you remember?"

Jasmine nodded.

"She lied to us about the Weissvolk, she lied to us about phantoms, she lied to us about our parents, and she lied to you about me being an impostor."

"Never trust a phantom to tell the truth," Jasmine said.

"She lied to you about how phantoms and Blood Blossoms, didn't she? She said that a phantom couldn't survive being trapped in a circle of them."

Jasmine had to admit, Mistress Schwartzekatze had lied to her about that. Was it possible she'd been lied to about the other stuff the phantoms mentioned? She felt as if the entire world was crumbling around her. If she'd been lied to about phantoms, then what else had she been lied to about?

Well, the phantoms hadn't hurt her yet, so she figured she'd give what they were saying a chance. "Okay," she said. "So supposing that she did lie, how could our parents have expected us to have magic unless . . . " Jasmine got very excited, and spoke directly to Jack. "You and mom are sorcerers?"

"Your mom is," Jack corrected, "but I knew that long before I married her."

Jasmine frowned in confusion. The concept of a witch marrying anyone but a wizard was completely foreign to her. Her mind was in a whirl. Her dad choosing to be with her mom and his warlocks of children, and her mom choosing to be with her dad, who wasn't a sorcerer, was very confusing to her. Thinking that she wouldn't be able to understand that one in one night, she took a deep breath, cleared her head, a moved on. "How did you two survive the Blood Blossoms?"

"I'm not a phantom," Jack said simply.

"But what about Daniel?"

"I survived because Dad knew what to do to save me from the Blood Blossoms," Daniel explained. "He rescued me and took me to someone who could help speed up my recovery."

"How did you find us anyway?" Jasmine asked her dad.

"He didn't have to find us," Daniel mumbled. "He was with us the whole time. Herr Dunkel and his crowd turned our parents into wands for us." He looked sick at the thought, and now Jasmine could see why.

Jasmine pulled her wand out of her pocket. "Here," she said offering it to Daniel. "What you guys said makes sense, and I believe you. It's not fair to trap Mom as a wand like this. If you freed Dad, then you have more experience with the spell to change her back than I do."

If anyone had told her that she'd ever admit that her brother knew a spell better than she did, or that she'd ever willingly hand her wand over to a phantom, she'd have told them they were nuts, yet there she was. Not only was she handing her wand over to a phantom willingly, but it was because her little brother knew a spell better than she did and she did not expect to still have a wand when he was done.

Of course, she wouldn't have believed that she'd abandon the way of life she was being taught to lead either. Thinking about it, Jasmine knew she hadn't been really loyal to Black Magic – no amount of more powerful warlocks watching her or amount of threats could've earned her true loyalty. She'd followed along with it because it was convenient to leave things the way things were, and she was eager to please. She hadn't expected to abandon it.

She'd expected to continue living that way because she had been taught to live that way – but not because she truly liked it. For example, she'd been taught that Daniel's punishments were to protect him, but she hadn't really liked it. Ultimately, just finding out about Schwartzekatze's lies and unnecessary cruelty was enough to make sure she wasn't loyal to that lifestyle. Loyal, no, but still willing to follow it because it was the only thing she'd ever known, yes. She was lucky to get out.

"Does anyone have any water?" Daniel asked, interrupting Jasmine's thoughts and taking her wand. "We're going to need it for this spell to work."

No one had any water, but Jack said, "There's a spell your mother used to do whenever we needed water around the house. It seems easy, but I wouldn't know if it is or not. Do you want to give it a try?"

Daniel nodded.

"Okay," said Jack. "Point your wand where you need the water to be and say 'Aquius'!"

Daniel quickly cleaned off the wand using the spell he'd just heard before using the reverting charm. Then in a matter of seconds, their mother was there in place of the wand. "Maddie!" cried Jack.

The Fentons rushed forward to embrace their mother. "I've missed you, Maddie," Jack said. "Can you believe these are our kids – all grown up?"

"Jack?" Maddie asked, thrilled to see her husband all right. She looked at her children. "Jasmine? Daniel? You have grown!" She took her husband's hand and put her arm around her two children.

"Jack," she whispered softly. "I thought the Black Warlocks were taking our family away for good?"

Jack grinned. "Danny broke away from them Mads!" he told her. "He freed me, then we came and saved you and Jazz."

"Daniel?" said Maddie delightedly, seeing him in his newly acquired course white warlock robes. "Good job! I'm so proud of you!"

"And when we go home," Jack continued, "Maybe we could get him to make new wands for you and Jazz. He's done such a nice job with his own wand."

Daniel blushed and smiled shyly at the compliment. "Thanks, but I'm not sure that's the best option. I mean, there is a professional wand maker in town."

Then, Daniel was slightly uncomfortable. A strange cold feeling was coming over him, but he thought he recognized it. This was one of his phantom powers!

"Daniel," Maddie asked. "Are you okay?"

Daniel concentrated hard, and managed to get his power under control. "Yeah – I finally did it!" he exclaimed. "I got that phantom ice under control!"

"Way to go!" Jack said. "That's my boy!" He fondly messed up Daniel's hair.

"Dad," Daniel mumbled, blushing. "Would you please stop that?"

"Sorry," Jack whispered. "I'm just showing how proud I am of you." He smiled at his son. Then he said to the whole family, "Let's go home!"

Jack, Maddie, and Daniel started to walk toward Weissstadt. Daniel stopped and turned back when he noticed Jasmine wasn't following them. "Jasmine?" he asked. "Are you coming?"

She was staring back toward Frau Schwartzekatze's hut. "Don't tell me you'll miss that," said Daniel.

Jasmine shook her head. "No," she said. "It's not that. It's just... Do you smell smoke?"

Daniel sniffed the air. "Yeah," he replied. "Frau Schwartzekatze's hut must be being burned. Herr Dunkel wasn't happy with her for letting me get away alive."

"Our old home is going up in smoke then? Fitting." Jasmine said. She turned and walked with her brother. "So where are we going?" she asked.

Daniel replied. "It's a little place called Weissstadt ... "


	18. Epilogue

**Give yourself a pat on the back and take a virtual cupcake if you've read, loved, reviewed, or added this story to alerts or favorites. Enjoy the epilogue!**

**PS: Ja, Frau Schwartzekatze ist tot. (Yes, Frau Schwartzekatze is dead.)  
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Epilogue

Since coming to Weissstadt, and since Frau Schwartzekatze's death, life had gotten a whole lot better for the Fentons. Jasmine had become familiar with the Weissvolk and their way of life and had fallen in love with it. Daniel wasn't scared of being punished for not having the beliefs of those who practiced Black Magic, and was free to visit Sam all he wished. Jack and Maddie, freed from being wands, got to have their kids back and resume their happy life in the town.

Daniel was becoming more serious in his relationship with Sam, and had decided it was time to show her the way to his home. Though at the moment, he was having fun taking her on a scenic route away from the path he'd made from traveling back and forth between Weissstadt and Bachplatzberg.

"Daniel!" said Sam, "Haven't we passed this spot four times before? You said you were taking me to your village, but I think you're leading me in circles instead."

Laughing, Daniel decided that maybe it was time just to get to the village instead of risking a really irritated Sam. He smiled and led her onto the path. "Come on, we'll be there soon."

"You mean there's a path?" she asked, annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he said, "I was just taking you on the scenic route! There wasn't always a path anyway – it's only been there since I started traveling between your village and mine so much that I made my own little trail."

When Sam still looked a little mad, Daniel used his ice powers to make a delicate flower sculpture for her. He had gotten much better at controlling his phantom powers, and it was at times like that when they came in handy. "Does this make up for my stupid trick?" he asked, hoping Sam would like what he'd made for her.

"It's a start," she said, but she smiled as though the ice sculpture completely made up for it.

Daniel spotted Weissstadt ahead "There it is," he announced. "See Sam, I told you we'd be here soon!" Entering the village, Daniel pretended he didn't notice some of the younger kids in Weissstadt giggling and pointing as he and Sam walked along holding hands.

"So which would you like first," he asked, "- a break for lunch, or a tour of the town?"

"It's a bit early for lunch, don't you think?" Sam teased.

Daniel grinned. "A tour it is then!" He proceeded to show her the town square, the library, the school . . .

She smiled at him. "A school _and_ a library? Don't you realize how incredibly rich your town is?"

Daniel grinned. "We've got a lot of things covered with magic, like food, for example, so why not set up a better quality of life for everyone in Weissstadt? We've got a lot more time to focus on something other than just the basics."

Daniel also showed Sam the community garden enchanted to grow as much food as they needed, where they got their raw materials, and the wand shop he'd recently been apprenticed at.

They were headed back to Daniel's house for lunch when their conversation was interrupted by a "Mew!" Down rubbing against Daniel's legs and purring was a small white kitten.

"Oh, she's so cute!" said Sam. "Is this your cat? What's her name?"

"I don't know – she's not my cat. I don't have much experience with cats, but I don't think I like them very much." He remembered the experience with the schwartze katze, the scrawny little black cat in Bachplatzberg that had chased him around town.

Maddie had seen Daniel and Sam coming, and had come out to meet them. She laughed at Daniel's reaction to the cat. "Don't worry!" she called. "That's just Phyllis. She's a familiar to many White Warlocks around town."

"I think she likes you," Sam said.

Phyllis rolled onto her back and looked cute. "Well," Daniel said. "Maybe she is different from the other cats I've met."

"Come inside," Maddie said. "Lunch is waiting. You can introduce me to your friend over soup and dumplings."

Daniel made a little 'oh' as his mother said that. "That's right," he said to Sam. "You haven't met my mother or my sister yet!"

"As she said - " Sam replied, "over lunch." She took Daniel's hand as they walked into the Fentons' house.


End file.
